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Market Update 110224

4:30 pm : Stocks had appeared to be headed for another day of broad losses, but an afternoon retreat by oil prices helped the major averages rebound for a mixed finish.

Continued concerns about political and social turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa hampered trade in the early going. Sellers eventually intensified their efforts so that the Dow faced its third straight loss of at least 100 points. At its session low, the Dow broke below the 12,000 line. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 probed the 1294 zone, but the Nasdaq managed to limit its loss and remain above its prior session low.

However, buyers were pulled back into the action by a drop in oil prices. Oil futures cleared $103 per barrel overnight for a new two-year high, but spent most of pit trade near $99 per barrel before afternoon selling took it to a 0.8% loss at $97.28 per barrel. A smaller-than-expected build in weekly inventories had no real influence on oil's trade.

Oil's pullback undercut energy stocks, which had already spent the session trading as laggards. In turn, the sector fell to a 1.4% loss after it had staged a 2.0% gain in the prior session. Transocean (RIG 80.62, -1.41) was down almost 5% following news of its light revenue figure, but the stock pared its loss into the close.

Airlines found strong favor after oil prices moved lower. In turn, the Amex Airline Index ascended 1.4% after it had fallen in excess of 8% during the two previous sessions.

Semiconductor stocks also had a strong showing. Their 1.7% gain helped prop up the Nasdaq so that it outperformed its counterparts.

Retailers had a strong session overall. As a group they gained 0.8%, despite a mixed batch of quarterly reports from Target (TGT 52.00, +1.74), Kohl's (KSS 53.80, +1.78), Sears Holding (SHLD 82.40, -4.83), and Limited (LTD 32.14, +0.37).

Shares of General Motors (GM 33.02, -1.57) set a post-IPO low, but they managed pare losses as the broader market staged its afternoon recovery. Selling against GM came in the face of news that the automaker had strong quarterly sales.

As for data, initial jobless claims for the week ended February 19 totaled 391,000, which is down 22,000 from the prior week and less than the 410,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. Continuing claims came down 145,000 from the prior week to total 3.79 million.

Durable goods orders for January increased 2.7%, which is on par with what had been widely anticipated. Orders for the prior month were revised upward to reflect a 0.4% decline. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders for January tumbled 3.6%, which comes in stark contrast to the Briefing.com consensus 0.6% increase.

New home sales for January fell 12.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 284,000, which is less than the rate of 310,000 units per year that had been generally expected among economists polled by Briefing.com. The sharper-than-expected drop in sales comes after they had bounced by 15.7% in the prior month.

Treasuries advanced, but settled off of their highs. The latest Treasury auction featured the 7-year Note. It drew a bid-to-cover of 2.86, dollar demand of $82.9 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 49.7%.

Headline risk related to the turmoil of the Middle East and North Africa, corporate news, and data continue to underpin strong participation. As such, more than 1.20 billion shares traded hands on the NYSE today. That follows tallies in excess of 1.30 billion shares for each of the past two sessions.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-1.4%), Materials (-0.6%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Utilities (-0.3%), Telecom (-0.2%), Financial (-0.2%)DJ30 -37.28 NASDAQ +14.91 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.6% SP400 -0.1% SP500 -1.30 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1583/2.07 bln/1051 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1585/1.22 bln/1381

3:30 pm : Commodities finished mostly lower today, with softs (+0.8%) the lone advancer.

April WTI crude oil finished lower by 0.8% to $97.28 per barrel, sharply off its overnight and $2.5 yr highs at $103.41 per barrel. Crude's sell off accelerated heading into the close after crude oil failed to break through $100. This morning's inventory data was a relative non-event after it showed an inline build. March natural gas shed 0.2% to close at $3.88 per MMBtu.

April gold ended hear unchanged at $1413.80 per ounce, while March silver closed off 0.2% to $33.18 per ounce. The flight to safety was off for the session with very little new news flow out of the Middle East. However, in afterhours trade both metals dropped sharply on the heels of crude oil's sell off. DJ30 -18.43 NASDAQ +18.42 SP500 +0.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1462/1.6 bln/1139 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1472/853.3 mln/1456

3:00 pm : Stocks are still up comfortably from session lows, but the broader market hasn't been able to extend their recent rebound into positive territory. Instead, the S&P 500 continues to trade with a modest loss.

Only an hour of trade remains trade. That brings into focus the next round of earnings announcements, which features the latest from Applied Materials (AMAT 15.77, +0.13), Autodesk (ADSK 40.40, +0.81), and Gap (GPS 22.38, +0.05). Tomorrow morning brings the latest from J.C. Penney (JCP 36.06, +0.32). Revisions to fourth quarter GDP are also due tomorrow morning.

Participation is strong again this session. As such, almost 800 million shares have traded hands so far on the NYSE. Share volume on the Big Board broke above 1.30 billion shares in both of the past two sessions. DJ30 -46.13 NASDAQ +9.74 SP500 -3.24 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1394/1.49 bln/1189 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1358/780 mln/1568

2:30 pm : Stocks slid to session lows about a half hour ago, even though oil prices were stuck in a sideways drift. However, a recent retreat by oil prices to a 0.7% loss at $97.30 per barrel has helped stocks rebound to afternoon highs -- in just 30 minutes the Dow has slashed its 100-point loss in half.

The drop in oil prices has been particularly kind to airline stocks and transportation stocks. As such, the Amex Airline Index is now up 1.2% and the Dow Jones Transportation Index is up 0.7%.DJ30 -55.10 NASDAQ +6.57 SP500 -4.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1316/1.35 bln/1253 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1275/700 mln/1641

2:00 pm : Stocks have fallen to fresh session lows. The latest round of selling comes without any corresponding spike in oil prices. Instead, oil prices have been moving sideways with a 1.5% gain at $99.60 per barrel.

Weakness has not only intensified, but become increasingly widespread. In turn, the Dow is down 100 points for the third straight day. Natural resource plays have been the biggest drag on trade.

Both energy stocks and materials stocks are down 1.8%. Among basic materials plays, Newmont Mining (NEM 54.82, -4.29) is under some of the sharpest pressure, despite an upside earnings surprise. Yamana Gold (AUY 12.25, -0.19) is also down despite better-than-expected earnings of its own. DJ30 -108.91 NASDAQ -12.44 SP500 -11.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1223/1.20 bln/1346 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1188/620 mln/1741

1:30 pm : Treasuries continue to trade with strength in the wake of results from an auction of 7-year Notes. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 2.86, dollar demand of $82.9 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 49.7%.

For comparison, the prior auction produced a bid-to-cover of 2.85, dollar demand of $82.7 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 52.1%. An average of the last six auctions results in a bid-to-cover of 2.90, dollar demand of $84.2 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 52.6%. DJ30 -84.50 NASDAQ -1.70 SP500 -7.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1333/1.09 bln/1214 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1345/565 mln/1566

1:05 pm : A lack of positive leadership in the face of ongoing political and social turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has left the broad market to bleed for the third straight day.

With its slide this session, the S&P 500 is down more than 3% week to date. The push lower has come amid heightened concern about the implications of social unrest and calls for political change in Libya and neighboring countries. The potential for geopolitical turmoil has caused a climb in oil prices, which have only exacerbated selling among stocks.

Although stocks remain in the red again today, support at the prior session's low has helped keep pressure from intensifying.

Oil prices climbed overnight to a new two-year high in excess of $103 per barrel. It has since pulled back, but still sports a 1.6% gain at $99.70 per barrel. Only a muted reaction followed weekly inventory data that showed a smaller-than-expected build.

Even though oil prices are up for the session, energy stocks haven't attracted much support. The sector spiked 2.0% in the prior session, but is down 1.0% today. Transocean (RIG 79.55, -2.48) has been hit particularly hard after it reported a light revenue figure. In contrast, Foster Wheeler (FWLT 35.05, +0.28) missed the consensus earnings estimate, but has rallied back from a gap down at the open.

Retailers had started the session on a strong note, but they have pulled back to trade with a modest gain of 0.3%. Target (TGT 51.71, +1.45), Kohl's (KSS 52.63, +0.61), Sears Holding (SHLD 82.34, -4.89), and Limited (LTD 31.45, -0.32) all recently reported, but their results were collectively mixed.

Fellow discretionary play General Motors (GM 32.78, -1.81) reported strong revenue for its latest quarter, but that failed to prevent a sell-off that took the stock to a post-IPO low.

Today's data has been rather mixed. The latest initial jobless claims tally totaled 391,000, which is less than what had been expected. Durable goods orders for January increased an in-line 2.7%, but orders less transportation tumbled a surprise 3.6%. New home sales for January fell a sharper-than-expected 12.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 284,000.DJ30 -64.11 NASDAQ +2.39 SP500 -5.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1195/1.03 bln/1351 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1216/529 mln/1681

12:30 pm : Selling pressure has eased a bit now that the S&P 500 is flirting with its prior session low. Still, it continues to trade with a marked loss.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq has managed to limit its loss as it continues to trade near the neutral line. Priceline.com (PCLN 456.70, +30.71) has been a primary source of support for the Nasdaq following the company's latest quarterly report, which featured a better-than-expected bottom line. DJ30 -80.57 NASDAQ -3.58 SP500 -7.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1238/915 mln/1287 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1324/463 mln/1556

12:00 pm : The stock market recenly made an upward push, but it was rebuffed at the neutral line. That encouraged sellers to redouble their efforts so that stocks dropped to fresh session lows.

The broader market's retreat has dragged down retailers to a 0.4% gain after they had been up more than 1% in the early going. Sears Holding (SHLD 82.72, -4.53) has been hit particularly hard; its shares are down more than 5%, even though the company posted an upsided earnings surprise and stronger-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter. DJ30 -66.30 NASDAQ +1.97 SP500 -5.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1219/810 mln/1265 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1344/405 mln/1529

11:30 am : The Dow and S&P 500 recently set fresh session lows, but a sudden flurry of buying has helped the two averages start to rebound. Their upturn coincides with a pullback in oil prices, which now stand at $98.70 per barrel with a 0.6% gain.

The broader market's move off of session lows has helped automaker General Motors (GM 33.78, -0.81) pull back from its post-IPO low, which was set in the wake of a quarterly report that actually featured strong revenue results.

Treasuries remain in strong shape. The benchmark 10-year Note is up about a half of a point so thati its yield is just below 3.43%. Renewed strength at the long end of the yield curve has the 30-year Bond up almost a full point so that its yield is down to less than 4.53%. DJ30 -29.82 NASDAQ +8.34 SP500 -0.46 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1317/696 mln/1147 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1510/348 mln/1337

11:00 am : Stocks have been backed down in recent trade so that the major equity averages are back to being mixed.

In contrast to the prior session, when energy was the only sector to advance, energy stocks have fallen to a 0.8% loss, which makes them this session's worst performing sector. Energy's pullback comes in the face of further gains by oil prices.

Oil prices are currently up 1.3% at $99.35 per barrel, but still a few dollars off of overnight highs above $103 per barrel. Oil inventory data for the week ended February 18 were just released; they showed a build of 822,000 barrels, which is less than the 1.10 million barrel-build that had been widely anticipated. DJ30 -24.64 NASDAQ +7.94 SP500 -1.07 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1475/541 mln/928 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1576/272 mln/1191

10:30 am : Natural gas inventory data for the week ended February 18 was just posted. It showed a draw of 81 bcf, which is slightly less than the draw of 83 bcf that had been widely anticipated. Natural gas prices have responded by pushing lower so that they now trade at $3.81 per MMBtu with a 2.3% loss. In the minutes leading up to the report natural gas prices had traded with a loss of about 1.8%.

Oil prices climbed overnight to more than $103 per barrel, which marked a new two-year high. However, they have since pulled back to trade with a 1.1% gain at $99.20 per barrel. Weekly inventory data figures for oil are due at 11:00 AM ET.

Precious metals had garnered support in previous sessions as participants sought safety, but they are mixed this morning. Gold was last quoted unchanged at $1414 per ounce, but silver prices are presently off by 0.3% at $33.21 per ounce.

Cotton is limit down in its fourth straight loss. It currently trades at $1.77 per pound. DJ30 -10.68 NASDAQ +19.04 SP500 +0.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1571/365 mln/790 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1757/190 mln/978

10:00 am : Broad market trade has been rather choppy in the first few minutes of action, but the Nasdaq Composite has climbed to a nice gain. Its relative strength stems largely from an early interest in semiconductor stocks, which are collectively up 1.2%, according to the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

New home sales figures for January were just released. Sales fell 12.6% month over month to an annualized rate of 284,000, which is less than the rate of 310,000 units per year that had been generally expected among economists polled by Briefing.com. The sharper-than-expected drop in sales comes after they had bounced by 15.7% in the prior month.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+0.4%), Industrials (+0.2%), Tech (+0.2%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary, Health Care
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.1%), Financial (-0.4%), Energy (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%)DJ30 +8.93 NASDAQ +12.43 SP500 +1.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1358/171 mln/839 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1636/105 mln/988

09:45 am : The overall stock market is somewhat mixed this morning, but shares of retailers have run ahead to a collective gain of 1.1%, which makes for a nice rebound from their near 2% drop in the prior session.

Target (TGT 51.26, +1.00) is presently a primary leader among retail plays, even though the company's latest quarterly earnings came short of the consensus forecast. Kohl's (KSS 54.05, +2.03) is up even more sharply following its in-line earnings results and mixed outlook. DJ30 +20.39 NASDAQ +10.48 SP500 +1.53

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.30. Ongoing social and political tumult in the Middle East and North Africa aided in oil's overnight push past $100 per barrel. Those themes aided the renewal of selling pressure in many overseas markets and dropped domestic stock futures. However, stock futures have since rallied so that a flat to slightly higher start to Thursday's trade appears to be in order. The improved tone has been helped by a pullback in oil prices, which now trade at $99.40 per barrel, but still sport a 1.3% gain. Oil prices will remain on the radar of traders all session, but particularly close attention will be paid to the weekly oil inventory report, which is due at 11:00 AM ET. Today's economic data has featured a surprise drop in initial weekly jobless claims to 391,000. Overall durable goods orders increased an in-line 2.7%, but orders less transportation surprised many with a 3.6% tumble. Still to come are new home sales figures for January (10:00 AM ET). This afternoon brings results from an auction of 7-year Notes (1:00 PM ET).

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +8.60. Futures for the S&P 500 have resumed their climb up from overnight lows so that they now trail fair value by only a fractional margin. Meanwhile, Germany's DAX is currently down 1.0% so that it is pace for its fourth straight loss. That span of weakness has the German bourse trading below its 50-day moving average for the first time in more than a month. This session's slide has been led by RWE AG and Allianz (AZ), which reported a gain in fourth quarter profit and announced to raise its dividend. Siemens (SI) has provided some broad market support, as has BASF, which reported a sharp rise in fourth quarter income. France's CAC is currently off by just 0.1% as France Telecom, Axa (AXA), and LVMH Moet Hennessey continue to drag on trade. LVMH Moet Hennessey is on pace for its fifth straight loss; it came in contact with its four-month low earlier. Meanwhile, energy giant Total (TOT) has managed to make strong gains, thanks to the spike in oil prices. Higher oil prices have also helped BP Plc (BP), which has joined fellow natural resource plays BG Group, BHP Billiton (BHP), and Anglo American to provide support to Britain's FTSE. Still, the FTSE is down 0.2% as weakness in HSBC (HBC), British American Tobacco, Vodafone (VOD), and Rio Tinto (RIO) permeate broader trade.

Japan's Nikkei logged a 1.2% loss to close below its 50-day average as 90% of its components settled in the red. Fast Retailing, TDK Corp, Kyocera (KYO), and Honda Motor (HMC) were atop the list of declining issues. CSK Corp and Terumo Corp were among the few that were resilient enough to muster gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.3% to deepen its multi-month low. Weakness was widespread, but HSBC, Hutchison Whampoa, China Petroleum, and China Mobile were the heaviest drags on trade. Tencent Holdings managed to make a nice rebound, though; it climbed 1.1% after falling a cumulative 7% during the course of the three previous sessions. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite put together a 0.6% gain amid leadership from PetroChina (PTR) and China Shenhua. Zijin Mining was one of the weakest performers as profit takers knocked the stock to a 1.8% loss after it had climbed almost 13% during the four previous sessions to set a two-month high in the prior day's trade.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -7.00. Stock futures had been slowly making a modest recovery from their overnight lows, but the effort was recently interrupted by the latest dose of data. Initial jobless claims for the week ended February 19 totaled 391,000, which is less than the 410,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. The latest tally marks an decrease of 22,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims came down 145,000 from the prior week to total 3.79 million. Durable goods orders for January increased 2.7%, which is on par with what had been widely anticipated. Orders for the prior month were revised upward to reflect a 0.4% decline. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders for January tumbled 3.6%, which comes in stark contrast to the Briefing.com consensus 0.6% increase.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -6.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -9.50. Selling pressure continues this morning. Weakness comes amid further losses abroad, although China's Shanghai Composite managed to stage a gain in the face of a global effort to pare risk in light of ongoing social and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. That turmoil continues to propel crude oil prices higher -- the commodity was last quoted with a 3.4% gain at $101.45 per barrel in electronic trade. Corporate news continues to be of secondary concern, but it is notable that General Motors (GM) reported strong sales for its latest quarter, but collective results from retailers like Target (TGT), Kohl's (KSS), Sears Holdings (SHLD), and Limited (LTD) were rather mixed. Today's economic calendar features the latest weekly initial jobless claims tally and January Durable Goods Orders data, both of which are due at 8:30 AM ET. New home sales figures for January are due at 10:00 AM ET, along with the December House Price Index. Natural gas inventory data are due at 10:30 AM ET, followed by oil inventory data at 11:00 AM ET. Results from an auction of 7-year Notes are due at 1:00 PM ET.

07:24 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -7.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -10.70.

http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/update

6:59PM Fannie Mae reports Q4 results; (FNMA) 0.56 -0.02 : Co reported Q4 net income of $73 mln compared to a net loss of $1.3 billion in the third quarter of the year. The change resulted from a decline in the co's credit-related expenses and the successful resolution of outstanding repurchase claims. Fannie Mae is building a strong new book of business and expects that new loans acquired since January 2009 will be profitable over their life cycle. The co is working to mitigate losses on its legacy book of business by focusing on reducing defaults, pursuing home retention solutions and foreclosure alternatives to help struggling homeowners, and pursuing contractual remedies from lenders and providers of credit enhancement. The co's net loss attributable to common stockholders in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $2.1 billion, which included $2.2 billion in dividend payments to the U.S. Treasury. To eliminate the co's net worth deficit of $2.5 billion as of December 31, 2010 the Federal Housing Finance Agency has requested $2.6 billion on the co's behalf from Treasury, more than 80 percent of which is the dividend payment to Treasury.

6:52PM Cimarex Energy increases quarterly cash dividend 25% to $0.10/share (XEC) 114.59 +0.50 :

6:50PM Insituform Tech reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line (INSU) 25.44 +0.55 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.44 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.44; revenues rose 15.1% year/year to $246 mln vs the $238 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.75-1.90 vs. $1.80 Thomson Reuters consensus.

6:41PM Cobalt International Energy announces receipt of BOEMRE's approval of deepwater exploration plan for its North Platte #1 exploratory well (CIE) 14.67 -0.27 : CIE announced that it has received a letter from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement ("BOEMRE"), notifying Cobalt of the BOEMRE's approval of the Exploration Plan for OCS-G 30876, Block 959, Garden Banks Area, which we refer to as Cobalt's North Platte #1 exploratory well. Although this approval is an important step in the well permitting process, Cobalt is uncertain as to when it will be able to resume drilling operations on the North Platte #1 exploratory well given that other steps in the process remain to be completed, notably satisfaction of Notice to Lessee (NTL) No. 2010-N10 and BOEMRE's approval of the drilling permit (APD) for this well, which Cobalt is diligently pursuing. Cobalt intends to drill the North Platte #1 well with the Ensco 8503 rig. Cobalt is the Operator of the North Platte Prospect with a 60% working interest, with TOTAL E&P USA, INC. owning the remaining 40% working interest.

6:38PM U-Store-It beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line (YSI) 9.86 -0.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations (FFO's)of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 3.3% year/year to $53 mln vs the $55.3 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees FFO's of $0.13-0.14 vs. $0.15 Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees FFO's of $0.56-0.62 vs. $0.59 Thomson Reuters consensus.

6:35PM Thompson Creek Metals misses by $0.03; beats on revs (TC) 13.58 +0.09 : Reports Q4 (Dec) adjusted earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.03 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.23; revenues rise 47.6% year/year to $156.8 mln vs the $146.7 mln consensus.

6:34PM IBM regains leadership position in servers in Q4 of 2010 (IBM) 160.77 +0.59 : IBM announced that, according to a new report from Gartner, it regained the number one position as the leading server vendor in the fourth quarter of 2010, capturing 35.5%revenue market share.

6:32PM Williams Controls announces quarterly cash dividend policy and declares cash dividend (WMCO) 10.95 -0.15 : Co announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a quarterly cash dividend policy and authorized a dividend of $0.12 per outstanding share of the Company's common stock payable on May 12, 2011 to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 2, 2011.

6:11PM Crude oil pulls back in electronic trading; April crude oil is now -0.41 at $96.87/barrel (USO) 38.97 -0.83 :

6:10PM IAMGOLD beats by $0.10, beats on revs; sees 2011 gold production up in 2011 (IAG) 19.74 -1.17 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.39 per share, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.29; revenues rose 73.0% year/year to $459 mln vs the $415.3 mln consensus. Outlook: total attributable gold production is expected to rise to 1,100-1,200 mln ounces in 2011 from 967,000 in 2010.

6:04PM SM Energy beats by $0.16, beats on revs (SM) 67.68 +0.83 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.46 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.16 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.30.

5:58PM Ashford Hospitality increases liquidity with sale of JW Marriott for $96.0 mln (AHT) 9.73 -0.02 : Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) announced it has completed the sale of the JW Marriott San Francisco for $96.0 million in cash to an affiliate of Thayer Lodging Group. The sale equates to an NOI capitalization rate of 3.7% on a trailing 12-month basis. Ashford used the proceeds from the sale to payoff a $47.5 million loan secured by the hotel that was maturing in March 2013 and to reduce borrowings on its credit facility.

5:58PM SW Energy beats by $0.01, misses on revs (SWN) 37.61 -0.38 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 2.1% year/year to $480.2 mln vs the $497.9 mln consensus.

5:51PM Minefinders reports Q4 EPS of $0.18 vs. $0.03 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs rose 123.6% to $31.3 (no consensus) (MFN) 10.34 -0.16 : 2011 Production Guidance: Production and sale of approximately 65,000 to 70,000 ounces of gold. Production and sale of approximately 3.3 million to 3.5 million ounces of silver.

5:47PM Gulf Island Fab misses by $0.13 (GIFI) 27.85 +0.67 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.12 per share, $0.13 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.25; revenues fell 39.3% year/year to $43.0 mln vs the $65.7 mln consensus.

5:32PM Six Flags initiates stock repurchase program of up to $60 mln common stock common stock over a three-year time period (SIX) 59.61 -0.31 :

5:27PM Analysts Intl reported Q4 EPS of $0.19 vs. ($0.63) in last year's quarter; revs fell 4.9% to $25.3 mln (ANLY) 3.44 +0.29 :

5:25PM Liberty Global misses by $0.01, beats on revs (LBTYA) 41.73 +0.79 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.22 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.23; revenues rose 17.8% year/year to $2.43 bln vs the $2.39 bln consensus. The year-over-year decline in earnings was driven primarily by a lower income tax benefit and higher interest expense in the 2010 fourth quarter as compared to the prior year period. As of December 31, 2010, the remaining amount authorized under its most recent stock repurchase program was $110 million. Subsequent to December 31, 2010, our board of directors has authorized a new program of up to $1.0 billion for the repurchase of Series A common stock, Series C common stock, securities convertible into such stock or any combination of the foregoing, through open market and privately negotiated transactions, which may include derivative transactions.

5:22PM Analysts International Corp appoints Brittany McKinney President and CEO (ANLY) 3.44 +0.29 : Co announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Brittany McKinney as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. McKinney joined AIC in November 2007 and most recently served as the Co's Interim President and CEO. Prior to being appointed Interim President and CEO, McKinney was the Company's Senior Vice President, Central Region.

5:22PM CLECO Corp beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line; raises dividend (CNL) 31.29 +0.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 35.3% year/year to $259.9 mln vs the $239 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.25-2.35 vs. $2.27 Thomson Reuters consensus. The board of directors of Cleco Corp. intends to increase Cleco's quarterly dividend rate from $0.25 per common share to $0.28 per common share beginning with the dividend payable May 16, 2011. Additionally, the board has indicated its intention to further increase the quarterly dividend to $0.3125 per common share beginning with the dividend payable in May 2012.

5:20PM Brigham Exploration announces acceleration to 12 operated williston basin rigs, confirmation of incremental downspacing opportunity (BEXP) 33.67 -0.19 : announced that it will begin its acceleration to 12 operated Williston Basin rigs in 2011. Brigham also announced micro-seismic monitoring and production results that appear to support four wells per producing horizon per 1,280 acre spacing unit, or eight total Bakken and Three Forks locations per spacing unit. Brigham announced that the Swindle 16-9 #1H, its second Montana Bakken completion, produced at an early 24-hour peak flow back rate of ~1,065 barrels of equivalent. Brigham also announced the completion of two additional North Dakota Bakken wells at an average early 24-hour peak flow back rate of 3,513 barrels of oil equivalent. Finally, Brigham provided an update on its drilling and completion activities in the Williston Basin. Brigham announced that it plans to accelerate its Williston Basin operated rig count to 12 rigs by continuing to add an incremental operated rig every 4 months after adding its planned eighth rig in May 2011. Accelerating from eight to 12 operated rigs is anticipated to increase Brigham's drilling pace by ~44 gross wells per year, or ~29 net wells, once at the 12 operated rig level. Brigham anticipates reaching 12 operated rigs by September 2012.

5:19PM Great Plains Engy misses by $0.03, misses on revs (GXP) 19.20 -0.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.04 per share, $0.03 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.01); revenues fell 2.1% year/year to $467.8 mln vs the $495.2 mln consensus.

5:18PM Brigham Exploration beats by $0.03, beats on revs (BEXP) 33.67 -0.19 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.18; revenues rose 195.2% year/year to $67 mln vs the $64.2 mln consensus. For the first quarter 2011, lease operating expenses are projected to be $6.96 per Boe based on the mid-point of our production guidance, production taxes are projected to be approximately 10.0 to 10.5% of pre-hedge crude oil and natural gas revenues, and general and administrative expenses are projected to be $4.1 million ($3.91 per Boe).

5:15PM Helix BioPharma files European clinical trial application for a Phase I/II study of its lung cancer drug candidate L-DOS47 (HBP) 3.09 : Co announced that it has filed a clinical trial application ("CTA") with the Central Register of Clinical Trials at the Polish Ministry of Health seeking approval to perform its planned Phase I/II clinical safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy study of its lung cancer drug candidate L-DOS47.

5:14PM BioCryst awarded additional $55.0 mln by the U.S. Dept of Health & Human Services to complete peramivir phase 3 program (BCRX) 3.99 +0.04 : Co announced that it has been awarded a $55.0 million contract modification by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) intended to fund to completion the Phase 3 development of its neuraminidase inhibitor, intravenous (i.v.) peramivir, for the treatment of patients hospitalized with influenza. This contract modification brings the total award from HHS to $234.8 million, providing funding through completion of Phase 3 development and the filing of a new drug application (NDA) for i.v. peramivir in the U.S. I

5:10PM ATP Oil & Gas amended its existing first lien facility to reduce its interest rate from 11% to 9% per annum (ATPG) 18.43 +0.70 : Terms of the amended agreement provide for an increase in the facility from $150 mln to $210 mln.

5:10PM Dresser-Rand beats by $0.10, misses on revs (DRC) 46.12 -0.47 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.64 per share, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.54; revenues fell 4.5% year/year to $537.2 mln vs the $561.9 mln consensus. At Dec 31, 2010, 69% of the backlog of $1,964.6 mln was scheduled to ship in 2011. For 2011, bookings for new units and aftermarket parts and services are expected to be in the range of $1.2 to $1.4 bln and $1.0 to 1.2 bln, respectively. The Company reiterates its guidance for 2011 operating income to be in the range of $260 mln to $300 mln, with new unit segment operating margins in low double digits and aftermarket segment margins in the range of 22% to 24%.

5:10PM Gibraltar Industries misses by $0.13, beats on revs (ROCK) 10.47 -0.11 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.13 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.08); revenues rose 6.7% year/year to $153.7 mln vs the $142.7 mln consensus. "The early indicators in 2011 support our forecast for improved performance as we fully leverage Gibraltar's more efficient operations and strong market positions in the year ahead. The firming of demand in the nonresidential sector that we experienced in Q4 is especially encouraging because it occurred in the energy, manufacturing and transportation markets where Gibraltar is well-established. We also are seeing early signs of improvement in the residential and nonresidential repair and remodeling markets, and we expect this activity to accelerate through the coming year."

5:03PM Orient-Express reports Q4 adjusted loss per share of ($0.17) vs. ($0.08) Thomson Reuters Consensus; revenue increased 11.4% y/y to $126.6 mln vs. $138.26 mln consensus (OEH) 12.69 +0.22 :

5:03PM Westar Energy misses by $0.07, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line (WR) 25.98 -0.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.07 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.11; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $456.7 mln vs the $417.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.65-1.80 vs. $1.77 Thomson Reuters consensus.

5:01PM Orbcomm to acquire Alanco's (ALAN) StarTrak Business for a total consideration of up to $19.7 mln (ORBC) 3.06 +0.06 : The acquisition consideration is valued at approximately $18.5 mln, comprised of cash, stock, assumed debt, and redeemed shares. An additional $1.2 mln earn out component, based on calendar year 2011 performance could bring total consideration to approximately $19.7 mln.

5:01PM Southwest Gas increases the quarterly common stock dividend from $.25 per share to $.265 per share (SWX) 38.04 +0.23 :

5:00PM InterNAP announces that it will open a new data center in the Dallas/Fort Worth market (INAP) 6.63 +0.07 :

4:58PM Con-way issues statement regarding co's involvement in the investigation which led to the arrest of Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari; says training and experience help flag suspicious shipment (CNW) 31.22 +0.26 :

4:58PM American Intl reports Q4 (Dec) results (AIG) 40.43 +0.43 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $16.60 per share, may not be comparable to the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($16.98). Included in the 2010 fourth quarter results is a previously announced $4.2 billion net charge to strengthen Chartis loss reserves and gains of $17.6 billion from the sale of divested businesses, primarily from the proceeds of the AIA Group Limited (AIA) initial public offering and a gain of $4.1 billion from the sale of American Life Insurance Company (ALICO), included in discontinued operations. After-tax operating loss attributable to AIG was $2.2 billion for the quarter and $898 million for the full year.

Chartis operating loss of $4.0 billion for the quarter compares to a loss of $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter last year, reflecting reserve strengthening of $4.2 billion, net of $435 million in discount and loss sensitive business premium adjustments, or 6.2 percent of Chartis' total carried loss reserves of $68.1 billion at December 31, 2010.

SunAmerica Financial Group (SunAmerica) operating income of $1.0 billion was $43 million lower than the fourth quarter of 2009. Financial Services operating loss of $326 million before net realized gains (losses) compared to operating income of $468 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, resulting primarily from $742 million of impairment charges on certain aircraft at International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).

AIG incurred a tax expense of $4.8 billion in the quarter, primarily resulting from the gains related to ALICO, AIA, and the sale of the Otemachi Building in Japan.

4:48PM NetSpend beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (NTSP) 14.38 -0.15 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.09; revenues rose 18.2% year/year to $70.2 mln vs the $70.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.44-0.49, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.49 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $323-333 mln vs. $328.84 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Number of active cards of 2.1 million as of December 31, 2010 as compared to 1.9 million active cards as of December 31, 2009 Percentage of active cards with direct deposit of 34.2% as of December 31, 2010 as compared to 27.6% as of December 31, 2009

4:48PM MarkWest Energy and its subsidiary MarkWest Energy Finance Corporation closed their public ofering of $300 mln of 6.5% senior notes due 2021 (MWE) 43.96 -0.07 : The partnership intends to use the net proceeds from the notes offering to purchase later today $272,205,000 aggregate principal amount of its 8.5% senior notes due 2016 that have been tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to a tender offer for any and all of such outstanding notes. Barclays Capital acted as sole book-running manager for the notes offering.

4:45PM Ashford Hospitality Trust reinstates dividend at $0.10 for 1Q11 (AHT) 9.73 -0.02 : Ashford announced that the Board of Directors has declared a dividend on the co's common stock for the first quarter of 2011 of $0.10 per share and has given guidance that while each future quarter's dividend, if any, will be definitively announced near the end of each quarter, the Company intends to maintain at least a $.10 per share dividend per quarter going forward.

4:42PM Goldcorp beats by $0.10, beats on revs (GG) 45.19 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.57 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 69.5% year/year to $1.32 bln vs the $1.25 bln consensus.

4:41PM Goldcorp increases annual dividend 11% to $0.40; announced positive study results for the co's two major Canadian gold (GG) 45.19 -0.99 : GG announced positive study results for the co's two major Canadian gold projects, Eleonore in Quebec and Cochenour in Red Lake, Ontario, and the approval of full-scale development of both projects by Goldcorp's Board of Directors. Eleonore Production Profile Nearly Doubles The updated pre-feasibility study for Eleonore calls for robust, low-cost gold production in the heart of one of the most attractive mining jurisdictions in the world. Cochenour to Further Enhance Red Lake's Production Profile Goldcorp has completed a scoping study for the Cochenour gold project confirming the strong economics of the Company's plan to develop the Bruce Channel deposit in Red Lake.

4:40PM Mentor Graphics resumes trading (MENT) 15.09 -0.39 :

4:40PM AspenBio Pharma granted 180-day extension by NASDAQ to regain compliance with bid price requirement (APPY) 0.57 +0.01 :

4:38PM OmniVision beats by $0.26, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS, revs above consensus (OVTI) 25.65 +0.98 : Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.84 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.26 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.58; revenues rose 69.3% year/year to $265.7 mln vs the $242.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.57-0.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.45 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $240-260 mln vs. $218.52 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:37PM Vector Grp reports Q4 EPS of $0.18 vs. $0.24 in 4Q09; revs rose 17% YoY to $277.6 mln - no ests (VGR) 16.83 +0.05 :

4:36PM Ashford Hospitality Trust beats by $0.03, misses on revs (AHT) 9.73 : Co reports Q4 funds from operations of $0.40 vs $0.37 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs $221.1 mln vs $236.74 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:34PM Onebeacon Insurance announces that it will expand its offerings to include a Management Liability product for private companies in various industry groups (OB) 13.50 -0.17 :

4:33PM Community Health beats by $0.03, beats on revs; reaffirms guidance (CYH) 37.85 -0.11 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.76 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.73; revenues rose 10.1% year/year to $3.4 bln vs the $3.35 bln consensus. Co reaffirms guidance. For Q1, sees EPS of $0.77-0.80 vs. $0.78 Thomson Reuters consensus. For FY11, sees EPS of $3.15-3.35 vs. $3.25 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $13.9-14.2 bln vs. $14 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:30PM Lexmark elects Paul Rooke as chairman (LXK) 37.29 -0.28 : Rooke will succeed Paul J. Curlander as chairman at the 2011 annual meeting of stockholders. Curlander will retire from Lexmark as executive chairman, effective April 30, 2011.

4:30PM Dana Holding Board of Directors authorizes quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share of preferred stock (DAN) 18.49 +0.69 : Payments are for shareholders of 4.0% Series A convertible preferred stock and 4.0% Series B convertible preferred stock.

4:30PM PC-TEL reports Q4 revenue increased 26% y/y to $18.6 mln, single analyst estimate $18.6 mln; net income $0.09, consensus $0.05 (PCTI) 7.40 +0.08 :

4:29PM Globus Maritime Limited reports Q4 EPS of $0.36 vs. ($0.16); revs fell 22% to $8.0 mln (GLBS) 9.11 +0.12 :

4:28PM Universal Truckload Services beats by $0.01, misses on revs (UACL) 15.66 +0.26 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.19; revenues rose 11.6% year/year to $156.1 mln vs the $164.1 mln consensus.

4:26PM Alphatec misses by $0.02; guides FY11 revs in-line (ATEC) 15.83 +0.19 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of ($0.03), $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.01); revenues fell 11.3% year/year to $46.0 mln vs the $45.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance; co sees FY11 revs of $195-205 mln vs. $195.1 mln consensus.

4:25PM Gardner Denver announces that Frank J. Hansen, Chairman, has decided to retire following the November 2011 following the November 2011 Board Meeting (GDI) 70.42 -0.57 : The Board has unanimously appoints Diane K. Schumacher member of the Gardner Denver, Inc. Board of Directors since 2000, to succeed Hansen as Chairperson upon his retirement.

4:24PM Tutor Perini reports Q4 revenues of $688 mln compared to $1.1 bln in prior year, Thomson Reuters consensus $728 mln; net income $0.40 per share, consensus $0.47 (TPC) 23.76 +0.18 : The backlog of uncompleted construction work at December 31, 2010 was $4.3 billion, consistent with the $4.3 billion backlog reported at December 31, 2009. The Company is initiating guidance for the full year 2011 with revenues estimated to be in the range of $4.2 to $4.7 billion, Thomson Reutrers coinsensus $3.08 bln and diluted earnings per share estimated to be in the range of $2.20 to $2.40 per share, consensus $2.36.

4:24PM Applied Materials beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS, revs above consensus; guides FY11 EPS above consensus (AMAT) 15.83 +0.19 : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.36 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.33; revenues rose 45.3% year/year to $2.69 bln vs the $2.6 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.34-0.38, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.31 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q2 revs flat to +5% QoQ to ~$2.69-2.82 bln vs. $2.52 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.29 Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:22PM Bio-Rad Labs beats by $1.06, beats on revs (BIO) 109.60 +0.69 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $2.41 per share, $1.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.35; revenues rose 7.8% year/year to $533.7 mln vs the $514.5 mln consensus. This increase was the result of organic growth across Bio-Rad's two main areas, Life Science and Clinical Diagnostics as well as revenue of $15.3 million resulting from the acquisition of certain diagnostics businesses of Biotest AG, which were added to the Company's portfolio in the first quarter of 2010.

4:21PM SBA Comm misses by $0.12, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line; guides FY11 revs in-line (SBAC) 42.44 +0.26 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.34 per share, $0.12 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.22); revenues rose 14.1% year/year to $165.5 mln vs the $162.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $164.5-168.5 mln vs. $166.27 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees FY11 revs of $684-704 mln vs. $695.10 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:20PM Gap announces new $2 bln share repurchase authorization and plans to increase dividend 13% for 2011 to $0.45 from $0.40 per share annually (GPS) 22.49 +0.16 :

4:20PM Gap beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides FY12 EPS in-line; announces share buyback $2 bln (GPS) 22.49 +0.16 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.60 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.57; revenues rose 2.9% year/year to $4.36 bln vs the $4.26 bln consensus. The company's fiscal year 2010 comparable store sales increased 1 percent compared with a decrease of 3 percent for the prior year. The company's sales for the Direct division for fiscal year 2010 increased 16 percent to $1.30 billion compared with $1.12 billion in the prior year. The company's comparable store sales including the associated comparable online sales increased 2 percent for fiscal year 2010. Co issues in-line guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $1.88-1.93 vs. $1.93 Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:20PM Wilson Greatbatch beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (GB) 24.05 +0.40 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.46 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $133.1 mln vs the $134 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.55-1.65, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.63 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $540-560 mln vs. $555.75 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "Our financial performance in 2010 includes the benefits of the investments in operations and infrastructure we made over the last five years. Evidence of this can be seen in our improved gross and adjusted operating margins and ultimately in our continuing strong cash generation, which has enabled us to deleverage our balance sheet and fund an increased level of RD&E spend. These initiatives have also provided us with manufacturing capacity for our systems and device products, which will begin to ramp up in 2011, and are expected to drive continued future revenue growth and margin expansion."

4:20PM Sigma-Aldrich announces the release of its pre-designed CompoZr Knockout Zinc Finger Nucleases technology to knockout any gene in the human genome (SIAL) 62.25 -0.03 :

4:20PM Watts Ind misses by $0.07, beats on revs (WTS) 38.81 +0.74 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.40 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.47; revenues fell 2.0% year/year to $316.7 mln vs the $312.4 mln consensus.

4:18PM Flowserve clarifies earnings presentation slide and commentary (FLS) 125.43 +2.77 : Co announces that it has modified a slide used during its full year 2010 earnings presentation. Slide four of the earnings presentation previously stated that: "first half of 2011 results are expected to be below first half of 2010 due to lower margins in backlog at the end of 2010." The company clarified this statement to now read: "first half of 2011 results are expected to be impacted by lower margins in long-cycle backlog at the end of 2010 as compared to long-cycle backlog entering the first half of 2010." The company also supplemented to this slide the following: "the first half of 2011 earnings are expected to be more challenging than the second half of 2011."

4:17PM Mentor Graphics beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY12 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (MENT) 15.09 -0.39 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.48 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.46; revenues rose 29.6% year/year to $307.3 mln vs the $292.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ~$0.15, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.06 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of ~$225 mln vs. $207.22 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY12, sees EPS of ~$1.00 vs. $0.85 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY12 revs of ~$1.0 bln vs. $960.00 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "Driven by over 40% year-over-year bookings growth in our core system design business, Mentor set an all-time revenue record this past year, growing the fastest of the 'Big 3' EDA companies. Mentor's decade-long emphasis on investment in system design software has driven us to a near-50% market share in printed circuit board design (PCB) software and an operating margin percent for PCB software that is twice that of the overall company. We expect this momentum to continue in this fiscal year as we achieve over 9% growth in Mentor's revenues and a much greater percentage growth in earnings."

4:16PM First Solar beats by $0.04, misses on revs; guides FY11 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (FSLR) 164.68 +1.66 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.80 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.76; revenues fell 4.8% year/year to $610 mln vs the $647.8 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $9.25-9.75 vs. $9.12 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $3.7-3.8 bln vs. $3.76 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:16PM Cloud Peak Energy misses by $0.19, reports revs in-line (CLD) 21.36 +0.29 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.19 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.48; revenues rose 2.6% year/year to $345.8 mln vs the $348.4 mln consensus. Outlook: Co sees continuing recovery in domestic electricity generation and growing export demand for its Spring Creek coal. The Spring Creek mine is one of the most northern mines in the PRB and thereby benefits from a shorter rail haul to northwest export terminals. Coal from our Spring Creek mine also has favorable energy content compared to southern PRB mines. These two factors leave Cloud Peak Energy well placed to meet growing Asian export demand assuming additional west coast terminal capacity is built. 2011 expected production from the three co-operated mines is 93-96 mln tons and is essentially fully sold, consistent with our sales strategy.

4:15PM CIGNA increases the co's stock repurchase authority by $500 million; with the new authority, co has ~$675 mln of share repurchase authority remaining (CI) 41.51 -0.38 :

4:15PM Dynamic Materials beats by $0.02, beats on revs (BOOM) 21.67 +1.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.10 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.08; revenues rose 5.2% year/year to $44.8 mln vs the $41.7 mln consensus. "The backlog increase at our Explosive Metalworking segment, combined with the anticipated growth of our Oilfield Products and AMK Welding segments, is expected to result in a 2011 consolidated sales increase of 20% to 25% versus 2010. We expect gross margins to improve to a range of 24% to 26%."

4:15PM Univ Elec reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (UEIC) 27.48 +1.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.45 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 20.7% year/year to $102.5 mln vs the $105.6 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.26-0.32 vs. $0.41 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $105-111 mln vs. $107.00 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.15-2.35 vs. $2.16 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $475-500 mln vs. $471.66 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:15PM World Fuel Svcs beats by $0.07, beats on revs (INT) 38.08 +0.15 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.56 per share, $0.07 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 64.4% year/year to $5.83 bln vs the $5.34 bln consensus.

4:13PM Premiere Glbl Svcs reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (PGI) 6.03 +0.20 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 0.7% year/year to $108.8 mln vs the $108.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.56-0.60, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.60 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $450-460 mln vs. $458.52 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:13PM Hansen Natural misses by $0.09, misses on revs (HANS) 54.70 -1.16 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.09 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.62; revenues rose 9.9% year/year to $318.7 mln vs the $329.2 mln consensus.

4:12PM Salesforce.com beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY12 EPS below consensus, raises revs in-line (CRM) 134.32 +0.95 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 29.1% year/year to $456.9 mln vs the $453.2 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.26-0.27, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.31 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $480-482 mln vs. $471.07 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $1.35-1.38, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.39 Thomson Reuters consensus; raises FY12 revs to $2.03-2.05 bln from $1.97-2.0 bln vs. $2.04 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Deferred revenue on the balance sheet as of January 31, 2011 was $935 million, an increase of 33% on a year-over-year basis. Net paying customers, excluding customers from the Heroku and Dimdim acquisitions, rose ~5,100 during the quarter to finish at ~92,300, an increase of 27% for the full year. During FY2011, the company added approximately 19,800 net new customers.

4:11PM Autodesk beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ADSK) 40.43 +0.84 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.35 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.34; revenues rose 15.8% year/year to $528 mln vs the $514.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.34-0.37 vs. $0.36 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $510-525 mln vs. $514.58 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co sees FY12 revs +10%, vs. +10.5% consensus. Co expects operating margin to increase by approximately 220 basis points compared to fiscal 2011. Autodesk anticipates fiscal 2012 non-GAAP operating margin to increase by approximately 200 basis points compared to fiscal 2011. Non-GAAP operating margin excludes approximately 20 basis points of operating margin improvement consisting of 60 basis points of restructuring charges, 10 basis points of amortization of acquisition related intangibles, and negative 50 basis points of stock-based compensation expense. Operating margin growth is anticipated to return to typical linearity during the year. Autodesk is not providing specific EPS guidance for fiscal 2012 at this time.

4:11PM SandRidge Energy beats by $0.01 (SD) 9.18 +0.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.08). "We are now seeing the value of our transformation to oil. The present value of our reserves is $4.5 billion, nearly three times our year end 2009 present value. Our oil reserves have more than doubled from year end 2009. Our finding cost of $9.04 per Boe reflects the high quality of our drilling program. We have grown oil production from 7,900 barrels per day in fourth quarter 2009 to over 28,400 barrels per day in fourth quarter 2010 and expect oil sales to generate about 80% of our revenues in 2011."

4:11PM Teleflex beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (TFX) 59.98 +0.23 : Reports Q4 (Dec) adjusted earnings of $1.00 per share, $0.08 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.92; revenues rose 1.4% year/year to $493.2 mln vs the $470.7 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $4.10-4.30 vs. $4.24 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $1.81-1.84 bln vs. $1.83 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:11PM Conceptus receives CE mark for transvaginal ultrasound confirmation for Essure procedure (CPTS) 14.14 -0.01 : Co announced receipt of the CE mark for use of Transvaginal Ultrasound to confirm proper placement of Essure micro-inserts three months following the Essure procedure. "We are pleased to achieve this milestone in Europe. Our next goal is to bring TVU confirmation to the United States, with the expectation that we will be able to replace the more costly hysterosalpingogram currently required. We plan to begin Conceptus-sponsored clinical trials to obtain FDA approval on this game-changing innovation to the Essure experience in 2011."

4:11PM Smith Micro Software beats by $0.14, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line (SMSI) 9.07 +0.49 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.37 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.23; revenues rose 18.9% year/year to $35.3 mln vs the $35.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $15-20 mln vs. $17.67 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:10PM Crocs beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (CROX) 18.11 +0.96 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 31.8% year/year to $179.2 mln vs the $166 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.19 vs. $0.17 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $215 mln vs. $202.80 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:10PM RealPage beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (RP) 27.03 +0.51 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 42.0% year/year to $54.1 mln vs the $53.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.06-$0.07 vs. $0.07 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $56.5-$57.5 mln vs. $56.86 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.33-$0.35 vs. $0.36 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $245-$255 mln vs. $251.28 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:09PM CEC Entertainment reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line (CEC) 36.58 -0.21 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.19 per share, excluding $0.05/share charge related to certain unfavorable tax related adjustments, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.19; revenues fell 2.6% year/year to $182.8 mln vs the $181 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.95-3.05 vs. $3.03 Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:08PM Deckers Outdoor beats by $0.28, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus; guides FY11 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (DECK) 89.80 +2.60 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $2.27 per share, $0.28 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.99. DECK reports Q4 gross margins of 54.2% vs 52.1% consensus; 52% guidance. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of approx $211 mln vs. $184.63 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co expects EPS to be down 5% y/y which includes items and may not be comparable to the $0.53 consensus. Co sees gross margins of approx 51%. Co issues upside guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $4.87 vs. $4.26 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $1200 vs. $1.12 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co expects gross margisn of approx 51% for 2011.

4:08PM InterNAP beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line (INAP) 6.63 +0.07 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.01; revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $60 mln vs the $60.5 mln consensus.

4:07PM SandRidge Energy signs agreement to sell certain New Mexico properties for $200 million (SD) 9.19 +0.14 : Co announces that it has executed a Purchase and Sales Agreement with an unnamed buyer under which SandRidge has agreed to sell properties in Lea and Eddy counties in New Mexico for $200 million. The sold properties include 23,000 net acres with production of ~1,500 Boe/d. SandRidge intends to use the cash proceeds to pay down outstanding borrowings under the company's credit facility.

4:07PM Nutrisystem reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; issues EPS guidance for Q1 and FY11 (NTRI) 20.20 +0.30 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.25; revenues fell 16.7% year/year to $87.9 mln vs the $100.6 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.30)-($0.35), including charges, may not compare to the $0.31 Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.40-$0.50, may not compare to the $1.32 Thomson Reuters consensus. Co states, "As we moved into 2011, a major new product launch in the commercial diet industry impacted our January sales. We reacted quickly and our price rollback promotion had an immediate positive impact on customer starts, but at the expense of gross margin. To preserve profitability and cash flow, we are taking the immediate hard action needed to further reduce costs. Longer term, it is clear that we need new product offerings and new sales channels to re-energize top-line growth going forward, and to that end we plan to invest in new product development efforts in 2011."

4:07PM BlackRock announces dividend increase from $1.00 to $1.375 per share; dividend is payable March 23 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 7 (BLK) 201.20 +6.07 :

4:06PM MedAssets misses by $0.04, misses on revs; guides FY11 EPS below consensus (MDAS) 21.32 +0.71 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.18 per share, $0.04 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 11.7% year/year to $106.9 mln vs the $122.2 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.94-1.04 vs. $1.14 Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:06PM First Place Finl reports receipt of Nasdaq notification letter (FPFC) 3.25 -0.02 : Co announces that it has received a letter from The Nasdaq Stock Market, dated February 17, 2011, indicating that the Company is not in compliance with the filing requirements for continued listing under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5250(c)(1). The Nasdaq letter, which the Company expected, was issued in accordance with standard Nasdaq procedures due to the delayed filing of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended December 31, 2010, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

4:06PM Ancestry.com reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus; guides FY11 revs above consensus (ACOM) 33.97 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.25; revenues rose 37.6% year/year to $82.7 mln vs the $81.3 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $86-88 mln vs. $83.68 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY11, sees FY11 revs of $370-375 mln vs. $357.42 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:06PM Mortons Restaurant Group reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (MRT) 6.45 +0.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 6.2% year/year to $84.1 mln vs the $84.1 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.13-0.15 vs. $0.11 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $81-83 mln vs. $81.54 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.44-0.49 vs. $0.42 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $318-323 mln vs. $319.12 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:05PM Novatel Wireless misses by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (NVTL) 6.74 +0.26 : Reports Q4 (Dec) net of breakeven, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.01; revenues rose 34.7% year/year to $119.3 mln vs the $114.7 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.48)-($0.36) vs. ($0.03) Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $60-80 mln vs. $101.90 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co says EPS is "below the range of our previous guidance of $0.02 to $0.05, primarily due to higher than anticipated product-launch costs... While we are pleased with our revenue growth in the fourth quarter, we anticipate weakness in revenues during the first quarter of 2011 as we transition to new 4G products. Our backlog remains strong and we expect to enter the second quarter with a number of next generation products launching in the marketplace." (Stock is halted)

4:04PM Magma Design beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides AprQ in-line (LAVA) 6.10 -0.09 : Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.08 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.07; revenues rose 12.3% year/year to $34.8 mln vs the $34.3 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4 (Apr), sees EPS of $0.07-0.08, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.07 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $35.0-35.5 mln vs. $35.3 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:03PM Volcom beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (VLCM) 18.31 +0.31 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 23.8% year/year to $78.6 mln vs the $78.4 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.08-1.14 vs. $1.04 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $366-371 mln vs. $366.71 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:03PM Limelight Networks announces that it and certain of its stockholders intend to offer and sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering (LLNW) 7.20 -0.16 : Jefferies & Company, Inc. and Piper Jaffray & Co. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

4:03PM Human Genome misses by $0.08, reports revs in-line (HGSI) 24.92 -0.09 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.46 per share, $0.08 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.38); revenues fell 59.8% year/year to $21.3 mln vs the $21.3 mln consensus. HGSI expects cash and investments at year-end 2011 to total between $550 million and $650 million. Cash and investments were $933.4 million at year-end 2010. The increase in net loss was primarily due to the decrease described above in raxibacumab revenue, decreased ZALBIN revenue and increased expenses related to the potential launch of BENLYSTA.

4:02PM Quidel beats by $0.03, beats on revs (QDEL) 12.57 -0.23 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.02 per share, ex-items, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.01); revenues fell 52.4% year/year to $31.7 mln vs the $31.2 mln consensus. Co states, "Revenues in the fourth quarter were expected to remain modest since outpatient visits for influenza-like illness in the United States remained below the national baseline until late December. As a result, any meaningful end-user demand for QuickVue(R) Influenza products did not occur until the end of 2010. Thus far in 2011, we appear to be experiencing a typical flu season and expect demand for QuickVue(R) Influenza products to be similar to the level we saw in 2008."

4:01PM Cushing MLP Total Return Fund commences a public offering of 3 mln common shares (SRV) 10.48 -0.57 :

3:36PM GenMark Diagnostics confirms patent lawsuit against the co dismissed (GNMK) 4.30 +0.30 : Co announced that Life Technologies Corporation and Applied Biosystems LLC dismissed their patent infringement lawsuit against GenMark filed November 19, 2010 in the Sououthern District of California. The suit alleged that GenMark infringes U.S. Patent No. 6,514,699 entitled "Multiplex Polynucleotide Capture Methods and Compositions." The suit was dismissed before GenMark filed any responsive pleadings.

3:32PM April WTI crude oil trades through $96 to notch new lows at $95.64; now down $2.25 to $95.85 (COMDX) :

3:25PM April WTI crude oil continues to move lower in electronic trade; now off $1.57 to $96.53 (COMDX) :

3:20PM Relative sector strength/weakness (TECHX) : Sectors that have been outperforming the S&P as the market rebounds intraday include: Materials XLB, Airline FAA, Steel SLX, Networking IGN, Software IGV, Internet FDN. Weaker sectors on a relative basis include: Silver SLV, Gold GLD, Gold Miners GDX, Utility UTIL, Staples XLP, Pharma PPH.

3:16PM Gold, silver extend sell offs in electronic trade (COMDX) : Silver futures just dropped another 50 cents; while gold has sehd another 5 points.

3:13PM S&P SPDRs fresh afternoon recovery highs S&P -2.3 and Nasdaq Comp +12, Dow -39 has not yet confirmed the move (SPY) :

2:55PM Kaman Composites Division (Kaman) has been awarded a contract for the Learjet 85 aircraft program (KAMN) 30.75 +0.29 :

2:53PM CBOT Agriculture and Ethanol and ICE Exchange Sugar Closing Prices (COMDX) : May corn finished down 5.75 cents to $6.965, May wheat fell 15.75 cents to close at $7.825, May soybeans fell 2.25 cents to close at $13.2925, Apr ethanol closed up 0.01 at $2.481, while May world sugar futures closed up 0.28 cents to 30.22 cents.

2:49PM Old Republic raises annual dividend to $0.70 vs $0.69 in 2010 (ORI) 12.22 :

2:43PM Winmark authorizes 500,000 share repurchase (WINA) 36.09 +0.39 : Co announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a 500,000 share repurchase in addition to the approximately 40,000 shares remaining under an existing Board authorization.

2:43PM Brocade pushes back into positive territory on spike in volume (BRCD) 6.27 +0.13 :

2:41PM NYMEX Energy Closing Prices (COMDX) : April WTI crude oil settled lower by 82 cents to $97.28, April natural gas dropped 5.9 cents to $3.877, March heating oil shed 3.65 cents to finish at $2.8684 while March RBOB gasoline ended off 1.19 cents to $2.703.

2:32PM Sandy Spring Banc repurchases warrant from the U.S. Treasury (SASR) 19.39 -0.03 : Co parent company of Sandy Spring Bank, announced that it has repurchased the warrant issued to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on December 5, 2008 in connection with Bancorp's participation in the TARP Capital Purchase Program. The 10-year warrant entitled the Treasury to purchase up to 651,547 shares at an exercise price of $19.13. Bancorp paid $4,450,000 for its repurchase.

2:32PM FirstEnergy and Allegheny Energy (AYE) merger approved by Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (FE) 38.05 -0.02 : This is the final regulatory approval needed to close the transaction.

2:29PM Gold drops another 6 points to new lows; now off $10.70 to $1403.20 (COMDX) :

2:24PM Canadian Pacific and CAW union reach agreement (CP) 66.23 +0.48 : Co announces that it was notified by the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) that the Memorandum of Settlement reached on February 5, 2011 by Canadian Pacific and the CAW has now been ratified by the membership. The renewal collective agreement, which covers Canadian Pacific's mechanical services employees in Canada, is four years in duration, extending to the end of 2014.

2:18PM Gold, silver dropping sharply in electronic trade (COMDX) :

2:17PM WesBanco Inc increases dividend to $0.15 per common share from the previous quarterly dividend rate of $0.14 per common share (WSBC) 19.99 +0.08 :

2:15PM April WTI crude oil drops in to negative territory with about 15 min left in pit trade; now off 12 cents to $97.98 (COMDX) :

2:07PM Colgate-Palmolive announces 9% dividend increase to $0.58 from $0.53 per share (CL) 77.45 -0.92 :

2:06PM Conexant: Gold Holdings agrees to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Conexant common stock at a price of $2.40 per share in cash (CNXT) 2.36 +0.02 : Gold Holdings, affiliate of Golden Gate Capital, announces the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Conexant Systems. Gold Holdings, Inc. has agreed to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Conexant common stock at a price of $2.40 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar 2011... (This follows Conexant announcing yesterday after the close that it has agreed to be acquired by Golden Gate Capital for $2.40 per share in chas and terminates merger agreement with SMSC)

2:04PM April WTI crude oil sees quick ~80 cent pullback; currently higher by 51 cents to $98.60 (COMDX) : Equity averages are currently bouncing off session lows.

1:59PM Afternoon pressure persists with out performing Nasdaq Comp -13 nearing Wed low at 2705 (SPY) : The Dow -113 and S&P -12 have decisively cleared yesterday's lows. The S&P is probing a support zone at 1296/1294 which marks its Aug/Nov rising trendline, congestion and an early Feb reaction low (session low 1294).

1:53PM Teledyne Tech unit teams with Lockheed Martin (LMT) and Raytheon (RTN) to pursue the Missile Defense Agency's Objective Simulation Framework contract (TDY) 51.30 +0.82 :

1:52PM Chubb increases quarterly dividend to $0.39 per share from $0.37 per share dividend paid last quarter (CB) 59.21 -1.18 :

1:41PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) : April gold finished lower by 20 cents to $1413.80, March silver shed 12.3 cents to end at $33.175, while March copper gained 5.1 cent to close at $4.3265.

1:37PM Sterling Construction is partner in a joint venture's successful proposal on $207 mln design-build project in Austin, Texas (STRL) 12.78 +0.16 : Co announced that Central Texas Mobility Constructors, a joint venture between its wholly owned subsidiary, Texas Sterling Construction, and Webber, has been selected as the best value proposer by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to design and build a 6.2-mile section of the Manor Expressway northeast of Austin, Texas. The joint venture, of which TSC is a 45-percent participant, has proposed to substantially complete the project within 955 days of issuance of a Notice to Proceed at a price of $207 mln.

1:32PM TECO Energy announces 2011 dividend increase to $0.85, up 3.7% from $0.82 per share (TE) 17.68 -0.03 :

1:30PM Horizon Lines resumes trading (HRZ) 5.05 -0.21 :

1:27PM CarMax dips to new session low of 33.66, hovering modestly above its 50 ema/sma at 33.55/33.40 (KMX) 33.67 -0.92 :

1:11PM Horizon Lines names Alex J. Mandl to the position of Chairman and appoints Stephen H. Fraser as interim President and CEO, succeeding Chairman, President and CEO Charles Raymond, who is retiring (HRZ) 5.24 -0.02 : Additionally, Brian Taylor has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, succeeding John V. Keenan, who has been granted a leave of absence. Taylor assumes the COO responsibilities in addition to his current role as Chief Commercial Officer. At the same time, co promotes Michael T. Avara from Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. All changes are effective March 11, 2011.

1:11PM CME Group announced the third record volume for its global benchmark Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) options contracts since the beginning of 2011 (CME) 302.22 +0.82 : On Wednesday, Feb. 23, WTI options reached a record 324,655 contracts, surpassing the previous record of 294,411 contracts set on Jan. 31, which represents a 10.3 percent increase from the prior record.

1:08PM Horizon Lines confirmed that it has entered into a plea agreement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and will pay a fine of $45 million over five years (HRZ) 5.23 -0.03 : Co confirmed that it has entered into a plea agreement with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Under the agreement, which is subject to court approval, Horizon Lines will plead guilty to a charge of violating federal antitrust laws solely with respect to the Puerto Rico tradelane and pay a fine of $45 million over five years without interest. Under terms of the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Horizon Lines will plead guilty to a charge of violating section 1 of the Sherman Act with respect to the Puerto Rico tradelane between May 2002 and April 2008 and pay a fine of $45 million.

1:07PM Modest midday bounce, Dow -53 edges 35 points off low (SPY) : The S&P -4.1 is trying to form a double bottom with yesterday's low, Nasdaq Comp +4.3 back in the black after it held above Wed. low. Crude oil may be an issue for the bounce attempt as it is working up toward its midday bounce high.

1:05PM Atrinsic announces departure of President Andrew Stollman to pursue other interests (ATRN) 2.59 -0.01 : Stollman's departure coincides with the end of a three year employment agreement between Stollman and the company. On an interim basis, Raymond Musci, the Company's Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, will assume the responsibilities formerly associated with Stollman's position.

12:50PM Fractional new session lows under Wed trough for Dow -79 and S&P -7.3 -- Nasdaq Comp -3 continues to hold above previous day's low (SPY) :

12:39PM Ntelos Holdings launch of a proposed repricing of its existing $751 million first lien term loan (NTLS) 19.35 +0.28 : Co is seeking to improve its overall cost of borrowing by reducing the applicable interest rate on the first lien term loan. The proposed repricing is expected to close in March 2011. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and UBS Investment Bank are joint lead arrangers for this transaction.

12:29PM ACE Limited Board will recommend 6.1% dividend increase to shareholders at 2011 Annual General Meeting, to $1.40 per share (ACE) 62.51 -1.78 :

12:12PM Stock indices continue to weaken midday, Dow -87 is pacing the way -- HPQ -2.6%, BACK -2.2%, DD -1.7%, WMT -1.7%, TRV -1.6%, PG -1.6% (SPY) : The S&P -7 is back near yesterday's trough at 1299.55 (session low 1299.77). Nasdaq Comp -3.1 is outperforming with it still 13 points above yesterday's low.

12:04PM Northrop Grumman has been selected to develop a collaborative navigation system under the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's Collaborative Robust Integrated Sensor Positioning Program (NOC) 66.93 +0.48 :

12:02PM Xcel Energy announced an agreement has been reached with Bechtel to provide services at the utility's Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear plants (XEL) 23.56 -0.04 : Co announced an agreement has been reached with Bechtel to provide engineering, field engineering and construction services at the utility's Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear generating plants. As part of a five-year contract signed Wednesday, Bechtel will establish on-site engineering, construction and project controls staffs at each plant. Bechtel also will have the capability to manage projects and provide project engineering and construction services, referred to in the industry as "design-build" services. Bechtel was selected after a competitive bidding process.

12:01PM Agenus restructures its remaining convertible notes (AGEN) 0.93 +0.01 : Co announces that it has restructured and extended the maturity of its 8.00% senior secured convertible notes to August 31, 2014. These notes have an aggregate current principal amount of $34 million and originally had a maturity date of August 30, 2011.

11:49AM Hypercom stockholders approve merger with VeriFone Systems (PAY) (HYC) 9.70 +0.02 :

11:49AM Stock indices slide to new session lows S&P -5.7 and Nasdaq Comp -3 , Dow -71 breaks under Wed low (SPY) :

11:45AM NIV IntelliMedia Tech Grp received an additional order to the India market, valued at ~$530,000 (NIV) 2.71 -0.04 : This additional order brings the total contract size to approximately $2.3 million. The custom handsets will be sold under the NIVS brand name and will be primarily targeted as a mid-level phone in India, which consists of 2G capable devices. The phones work on the GSM 900 and DCS 1800 bands, they have a 1.8" TFT screen, and Bluetooth capabilities.

11:35AM Kinder Morgan Partners entered into a long-term services agreement with Massey Coal Export Company; Co to invest $70 mln to expand IMT Terminal (KMP) 72.68 +0.78 : Co announced it has entered into a long-term services agreement with Massey Coal Export Company to handle up to 6 mln tons of coal annually through its IMT Terminal in Myrtle Grove, La., on the lower Mississippi River. "We are pleased to enter into this contract with Massey, which reflects continuing strong demand for coal export capacity... We will invest approximately $70 mln to expand our IMT Terminal to handle this additional coal."

11:31AM Pier 1 Imports recalls golden tea lights due to fire hazard (PIR) 9.25 +0.14 : Co and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announce a voluntary recall of golden tea lights sold with ornament tea light holder. There are ~ 370,000 tea lights in United States and 30,000 tea lights in Canada. Co has received four reports of high flames. In one of these incidents, the consumer suffered a minor burn.

11:25AM April WTI crude oil to lows $98.34; now up 55 cents to $98.65 (COMDX) :

11:19AM Gold, silver selling off here (COMDX) :

* Gold down $4.30 to $1409.70
* Silver off 37.3 cents to $32.925

11:16AM Shire Plc receives new Paragraph IV notice letter from Watson (WPI) for Adderall XR (SHPGY) 81.06 +0.09 : Co announces that its subsidiaries Shire and Shire Development have received a new Paragraph IV Notice Letter from Watson (WPI) advising of the filing of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for a generic version of all approved strengths of Shire's ADDERALL XR dextroamphetamine sulphate, dextroamphetamine saccharate, amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, amphetamine sulphate capsules, CII. The new ANDA that Watson filed is not covered under the existing settlement agreements entered into in November 2007 between Shire and Watson. The Settlement Agreements cover a different ANDA and do not provide any license for Watson to sell the products covered in Watson's new ANDA.

11:11AM Dresser-Rand will acquire a $10 mln minority interest in Echogen as well as certain license and exclusive market rights to Echogen's technologies and intellectual property (DRC) 46.70 +0.11 : Under the definitive agreement, Dresser-Rand will make an initial investment of $10 mln in exchange for a 20% ownership interest in Echogen. Dresser-Rand will also acquire certain broad license rights in key industrial verticals and will pay Echogen a royalty based upon future equipment sales in these markets. Commercialization is expected to begin in 2012.

11:07AM JBT Corp signed two contracts with Aujan Industries for a total of euro 6.1 million (JBT) 18.22 +0.18 : Co signed two contracts with Aujan Industries for a total of euro 6.1 mln (~$8 mln). Aujan is the largest privately owned beverage and confectionery company in the Middle East. The order was received late in the fourth quarter of 2010 with the project currently scheduled to be operational in the third quarter of 2011.

11:05AM Southwest Air announces new AirTran transition agreement with its pilots' union (LUV) 11.82 +0.13 : Co announced that it has reached an agreement with its Pilots, represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (SWAPA), on an initial Transition Agreement that establishes a procedural framework for eventually integrating the Pilots of Orlando-based AirTran Airways into Southwest.

11:01AM Stock indices slip slightly after energy inventory data -- Dow -33, S&P -1.7, Nasdaq +6 (SPY) :

11:01AM Following inventory data, April WTI crude oil ticks modestly higher; now up $1.25 to $99.35 (OIH) :

11:00AM Arrow Elec announces global distribution agreement with Trident Microsystems (ARW) 38.86 -0.21 : Arrow customers now have access to Trident's offerings designed for digital televisions and set-top boxes. Consumers can enjoy TV shows, HD, 2D and 3D movies, 3D games, photos, videos and extensive Internet content from multiple sources on their TVs and through their set-top boxes.

10:56AM Lowe's slips to new low of 25.15 but able to hold above yesterday's trough and its 50 sma at 25.13/25.09 (LOW) 25.23 -0.50 :

10:56AM Virgin Media announces pricing of EUR 957 mln equivalent of senior secured notes due 2021 (VMED) 26.94 -0.04 : Co announced the pricing of the offering of ~EUR 957 mln equivalent aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2021 by its wholly-owned subsidiary Virgin Media Secured Finance in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and outside the United States to certain non-U.S. persons pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes will rank pari passu with Virgin Media's senior credit facility and its existing senior secured notes due 2018 and, subject to certain exceptions, share in the same guarantees and security which has been granted in favour of its senior credit facility and its existing senior secured notes due 2018.

10:50AM Lagging Dow -25 sets new session low of 12073, still holding slightly above yesterday's trough at 12063 (DIA) : S&P -1.1 hovering just above today's narrow range low, Nasdaq Comp +8.8 continues to outperform but 13 points off high.

10:42AM Nat gas to fresh lows at $3.829; now down 10.5 cents to $3.831 (COMDX) :

10:37AM Honeywell to redeem its 5.625% notes due 2012 (HON) 56.00 +0.36 : Co announced that it is exercising its option to redeem the entire outstanding principal amount of its 5.625% Notes due 2012, of which an aggregate principal amount of $183,580,000 are outstanding.

10:30AM Natural gas ticks toward lows following data; now off 8.4 cents to $3.852 (UNG) :

10:27AM S&P +2.1 holds at retracement of yesterday's bounce and lifts to minor new session high (SPY) : Noted in The Technical Take that the hold near supports for various market averages and tails on daily charts was constructive action on Wednesday. A hold at retracements of yesterday's late rally would leave the door open to further upside attempts. The S&P held at the 62% retrace of yesterday's rebound this morning (1304) and has recently notched a minor new session high of 1310 (Wed high 1312). If 1305/1304 can continue to hold this short term set-up remains intact. Initial resistance above is in the 1315/1316 area.

10:21AM Zoran: Institutional Shareholder Services supports Ramius' consent solicitation seeking changes to the Zoran Board (ZRAN) 10.98 +0.10 :

10:15AM Relative Sector Strength (TECHX) : The Nasdaq Comp +16 has pushed to minor new session high in recent trade while the Dow +3 and S&P +1.2 remain within limited ranges. Sectors outperforming the S&P in recent trade include: Solar TAN (TSL, CSIQ, JKS, FSLR, JASO, SPWRA, YGE, LDK, WFR, STP, SOL), Networking IGN, Disk Drive, Semi SMH, Industrial XLI, Rail, Transports IYT, Software IGV, Internet FDN.

10:11AM General Motors Q4 conf call summary (GM) 34.33 -0.26 : Global deliveries increased 11.5% YoY in Q4. In GM North America, market share incrased to 18.5% sequentially from 17.7% but decreased YoY from 19.2%; co anticipates volume will positively impact EBIT as environment improves. In China, co sees the auto market growing 10-15% next year; with lots of moving parts, headwind, and tailwind, co says China is "interesting and complicated"... Co tried to make itself more agile and less "predictable"... Board and auditors both conclude that co's material weakness in its accounting is no longer an issue as of 12/31/2010. Co expects to make improvements in balance sheet and improving its pension funded status.

10:02AM Stock indices see limited reaction to housing data, continue to hover within narrow ranges, Housing XHB slides to new session low (SPY) :

10:02AM Motorola Mobility announced a strategic investment in Catch Media (MMI) 29.67 -0.10 :

10:02AM CDC Corp: Evolution Master Fund provides update on the dispute with co (CHINA) 2.86 -0.06 : Since Evolution's previous press release on November 11, 2010, the following notable events have occurred: 1) The Court denied CDC's motion to renew and to reargue the injunction order that Evolution had won enjoining CDC from unilaterally nullifying the covenants in the parties' Note Purchase Agreement; 2) A motion to withdraw filed by CDC's outside counsel citing CDC's failure to pay them as well as "other professional issues" was granted; 3) Evolution's motion for discovery sanctions against CDC was granted. The Court ordered that CDC pay Evolution $50,000 as a sanction; 4) CDC filed an offer to compromise with the Court offering Evolution a structured payment of $41,225,000 for its Notes, or par value, payable in 2011 and 2012.

10:01AM Power-One announces Digital Power Management patent license with Maxim Integrated Products (PWER) 9.12 +0.18 : Co and Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM), announced that they entered into a non-exclusive, worldwide, Field of Use agreement for Digital Power Technology (DPT) patents from Power-One.

10:00AM Biovest secures financing from State of Minnesota and City of Coon Rapids to establish manufacturing site for lymphoma cancer vaccine (BVTI) 0.70 +0.01 : Biovest International, the State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and the City of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, jointly announced that the State of Minnesota, the City of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and JMS Holdings, have provided financial support to Biovest to establish Coon Rapids (a suburb of Minneapolis) as the U.S. manufacturing site for BiovaxID(R), Biovest's personalized cancer vaccine for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The total loan package is approximately $1.5 million, and this investment is earmarked to support the initial expansion of Biovest's existing 35,000 sq. ft. bio-manufacturing facility in Coon Rapids to accommodate production for its cancer vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI).

9:58AM Caliper Life Sciences announced that the results of its initial screening efforts under the EPA ToxCast program have been published (CALP) 6.62 +0.05 : Co announced that the results of its initial screening efforts under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ToxCast program have been published in the scientific journal Toxicology. Key findings reported include (1) a high level of quality and reproducibility in the dataset allowing for robust statistical analyses, and (2) the role that specific targets in biological pathways could play in toxicity events. These findings underscore the success of the Phase I ToxCast effort and support continued expansion of the program to build predictive models for identifying chemicals with high risk for human toxicity or environmental hazard. Caliper has recently been awarded three new task orders with an aggregate value of $3.1 million to fund additional activities under the EPA ToxCast program.

9:55AM Heartland Payment Systems sells a small portfolio of merchant customers processing on third-party platforms to Sage Payment Solutions; financial terms not disclosed (HPY) 18.76 +0.03 :

9:51AM Wal-Mart slides under its 200 sma to potential support zone (WMT) 52.63 -0.40 : The stock had held at its 200 sma the previous two sessions but has broken below this morning. The next support zone is near at hand at 52.56/52.48 which marks the bull breakout points from Aug and early Sep (session low 52.57).

9:49AM Opening Point Gainers/Losers (TECHX) : Point Gainers: PCLN (+37.78), PPO (+7.98), NTES (+4.43), WBMD (+3.95), NFLX (+3.79), APKT (+3.01), KAI (+3.11), SINA (+2.89), NIHD (+2.80), WLT (+2.76), BIDU (+2.81), TWI (+2.65), CM (+2.68)

Point Losers: SLXP (-8.88), MGA (-6.23), AGQ (-5.37), IDCC (-4.67), SHLD (-3.62), HTWR (-2.05), CXO (-2.53), ICLR (-2.06), SXCI (-1.80), FCN (-1.79), EME (-1.74)

9:46AM Ford Motor notches new session high of 14.95, hovering modestly under the high of yesterday's three month low bar at 15.04 (F) 14.92 +0.06 : Stock has underperformed since Mid-Jan but yesterday it held near support at its 200 day ema and the 50% retracement of the June to Jan rally. This morning it is working up toward the high of the low bar.

9:44AM Gold issues showing relative weakness off the open -- GLD, GDX, AEM, RGLD, GOLD, NEM, KGC, AUY, SA, ABX (TECHX) :

9:41AM SPDR Retail a top performing sector in early trade (XRT) : The XRT +1.4% tested and rebounded off its 50 day yesterday and this morning is extended the bounce -- TGT +1.2%, KSS +4.8%, LTD +1.2%, PCLN +7.6%, ANF +2.3%, ARO +1.7%.

9:39AM Interdigital Comm signs SII mobile communications to worldwide patent license agreement (IDCC) 47.88 -5.27 : Co announces that its patent holding subsidiaries have previously entered into a worldwide, non-transferable, non-exclusive, royalty-bearing patent license agreement with SII Mobile Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Seiko Holdings Corporation, headquartered in Japan. The agreement covers the sale of SII's wireless products, including 2G and 3G Machine-to-Machine modules and PC Cards.

9:37AM Stock indices mixed/slightly weaker in early trade with choppy action above Wed lows -- Dow -11, S&P -1.2, Nasdaq Comp +1.4 (SPY) :

9:35AM Toyota Motor shares lower by 1.2% following two voluntary recalls, ammendment to potential floor mat interference recall (TM) 89.07 -1.10 : Co announced that it will conduct a voluntary safety recall of approximately 20,000 2006 and early 2007 Model Year GS 300 and GS 350 All-Wheel Drive vehicles to modify the shape of the plastic pad embedded in the driver's side floor carpet...Owners of the involved GS 300 and GS 350 All-Wheel Drive vehicles will receive a notification by first class mail beginning in early March 2011. Toyota will also voluntarily recall approximately 372,000 2004 through 2006 and early 2007 RX 330, RX 350, and RX 400h vehicles, and approximately 397,000 2004 through 2006 Highlander and Highlander HV vehicles to replace the driver's side floor carpet cover and its two retention clips

9:34AM Apple approaching this week's high/Monday's gap bottom at 345.32 (AAPL) 344.66 +2.04 :

9:23AM Brookdale Senior Living announces that the Company has entered into an agreement to increase the commitment under its credit facility from $200 million to $230 million (BKD) 37.33 : GE Capital, Healthcare Financial Services, acts as administrative agent, and Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America, Mubadala GE Capital and PNC Bank now participate as lenders under the line of credit.

9:17AM US Geothermal secures $96.8 million project loan for Neal Hot Springs (HTM) 0.97 : Co announces the financial closing with the U.S. Department of Energy of a $96.8-million loan guarantee to construct its planned 23-megawatt-net power plant at Neal Hot Springs in Eastern Oregon.

9:16AM Calumet Specialty Products priced an underwritten public offering of 4.5 mln common units representing limited partner interests at $21.45 per unit (CLMT) 22.55 :

9:11AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* SS&C Technologies (SSNC) announced RMI Management has converted the recently acquired management of The Kimball to SS&C's TimeShareWare Professional to manage the front desk, reservations, owner accounting, and credit card processing.
* Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Humana (HUM) pharmacy-benefit management division, announced it has selected AmerisourceBergen Corporation (ABC) as Humana's primary wholesaler for drug purchasing.
* Lawson Software (LWSN) announced that the City of Lee's Summit, has selected Lawson for a multi-application deployment of the Lawson Human Capital Management, Financial Management and Supply Chain Management suites, along with user productivity tools including Lawson Business Intelligence.
* China Intelligent Lighting and Electronics (CIL) announced that it has secured a contract with Kempinski Hotels to use Hyundai-brand lighting products to engineer and design the interior lighting for the Kempinski Hotel Huizhou, one of the three five star hotels in the city of Huizhou.
* Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) announced that its subsidiary, Rush Truck Centers of Florida has acquired certain assets of Heintzelman's Truck Center, a Ford truck dealer in Orlando, Florida. The purchase price for this acquisition was ~$4.7 mln.
* BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions and Syneron Medical ( ELOS) announced that the companies have signed a European framework agreement for vendor financing in the medical sector.
* Imperas announced that MIPS Technologies (MIPS) has licensed an OEM version of the OVPsim simulator to provide a fast, instruction accurate simulation product to its licensees.

9:06AM American Medical launches of Conceal low profile reservoir for penile prosthetics (AMMD) 21.68 :

9:04AM Charles River has implemented a new accelerated stock repurchase program to repurchase $150 mln of common stock, as part of its previously announced authorization (CRL) 35.91 : Co announces that it has implemented a new accelerated stock repurchase program to repurchase $150 million of common stock, as part of its previously announced authorization from its Board of Directors to repurchase up to $750 million of common stock. This new program follows a $300 million ASR program that was completed on February 11, 2011, and resulted in the repurchase of a total of ~8.9 million shares.

9:04AM Tri Valley announces a favorable settlement of lease termination litigation brought in 2009 by the lessors of its Lenox Ranch oil and gas leases located in its Pleasant Valley oil sands project near Oxnard, California (TIV) 0.42 : Co announces a favorable settlement of lease termination litigation brought in 2009 by the lessors of its Lenox Ranch oil and gas leases located in its Pleasant Valley oil sands project. The primary term of the leases has been extended by three years until May 1, 2014. The co expects to commence permit work early next month as part of its previously announced 3-D seismic study of the Claflin and Brea leases, with seismic recording to follow in late March or early April. Co is working to secure a rig to commence drilling the first of five wells in early April which could allow oil production from the new wells to start by June 2011.

9:03AM Following the open of pit trade, April WTI crude oil has dropped over a point; currently up $1.50 to $99.60 (COMDX) : Now close to 4 points off of overnight highs.

9:01AM Safeway beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line (SWY) 22.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.62 per share, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.57; revenues rose 0.8% year/year to $12.8 bln vs the $12.71 bln consensus.

9:01AM Edwards Lifesciences receives CE Mark for the 29 millimeter version of its Edwards SAPIEN XT transcatheter aortic heart valve (EW) 85.14 : Co announces it has received CE Mark for the 29 millimeter version of its Edwards SAPIEN XT transcatheter aortic heart valve. The valve will be available with the Ascendra transapical delivery system for implantation through a small incision between the ribs, and this new offering increases the valve portfolio to three sizes.

8:53AM Freeport-McMoRan announces redemption of its 8.25% senior notes due 2015 (FCX) 51.01 : Co announces that it has issued a notice to redeem all of its outstanding 8.25% Senior Notes due 2015 on April 1, 2011. ~$1.1 billion aggregate principal amount of Notes is currently outstanding. Holders of record will receive 104.125 percent of the principal amount together with accrued and unpaid interest from October 1, 2010 to the redemption date. The Notes bear interest at 8.25% per annum. The annual interest cost savings would average ~$90 million per annum. FCX expects to record an ~$49 million charge to net income in the second quarter of 2011 in connection with the redemption. The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee, has distributed to the registered note holder written notice of the terms of the redemption.

8:47AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Naviscan announced that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Neoprobe (NEOP) as a partner to further develop its patented imaging technology.
* Nevada Gold & Casinos (UWN) announced it has met with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and is in the process of applying for a gaming license in the state of Nevada.
* ATP Oil & Gas Corporation (ATPG) is expanding its deepwater operating and infrastructure expertise to offshore Israel. Subject to approval of the Ministry of National Infrastructures, ATP has signed agreements to acquire five licenses, of which two are pending, in approximately 4,000 feet of water.
* Capstone Turbine Corporation (CPST) received an order for 24 additional C65 microturbines for one of the world's largest independent oil and natural gas companies. This order is a follow-on order to an 18-unit C65 order received in August 2010. All 18 of the C65s purchased in August 2010 have been successfully commissioned by Capstone distributor Pumps & Service.
* ZST Digital Networks (ZSTN) announced that it has entered into an agreement with the Road Transportation Department of Shangqiu City to develop a city-wide GPS tracking platform for commercial vehicles.
* BioSante Pharmaceuticals (BPAX) announced that enrollment of subjects in the first of two pivotal Phase III LibiGel (testosterone gel) safety and efficacy trials has been completed. The efficacy trials are being conducted under an FDA-approved special protocol assessment agreement.

8:38AM News Corp announces purchase of $227,424,000 principal amount of certain of its debt securities (NWS) 17.70 : Co announces that its previously announced cash tender offer for any and all of its outstanding 9 1/4 % Senior Debentures due February 1, 2013 expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on February 23, 2011. Co accepted for purchase all of the Securities which were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the expiration of the Offer, representing a total aggregate principal amount of $227,424,000.

8:37AM GTX reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (GTXI) 2.64 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.16 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.16); revenues fell 51.4% year/year to $1.8 mln vs the $2.9 mln consensus.

8:37AM Avon Products announces that an external search is underway for a new CFO; co said that Cramb will continue to serve as co's CFO on an interim basis pending the announcement of the new CFO (AVP) 27.94 :

8:35AM IntercontinentalExchange announces that ICE Futures Europe set an exchange-wide daily volume record of 1,626,277 contracts on February 23rd (ICE) 122.73 :

8:34AM Smart Balance misses by $0.01, beats on revs; reaffirms FY11 outlook (SMBL) 4.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 6.6% year/year to $62.8 mln vs the $60 mln consensus, reflecting the growth of the co's sales of enhanced milks and spreads products partially offset by declines in sales for grocery products and higher promotional expenses. The Company's enhanced milks sales growth resulted from the national expansion of distribution in 2010 as well as continued growth in the established markets of Florida and the Northeast. Co reaffirms FY11 outlook: The co expects net sales in 2011 to grow in the mid-single digit percentage range YoY vs. +5.8% consensus. The co expects growth to be driven by pricing, primarily in the core category of spreads, and volume growth in milk, partially offset by higher promotional spending. The co indicated that it is too soon to determine consumer reaction to the spreads category pricing. The co expects cash operating income in 2011 to grow in the high single-digit percentage range.

8:33AM KMG Chemicals approves a 25% increase to the co's cash dividend to an annual rate of $0.10 per common share (KMGB) :

8:33AM Teekay Shipping misses by $0.10 (TK) 35.19 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.51 per share, $0.10 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.41).

8:33AM Christopher & Banks appoints Michael Lyftogt as Senior Vice President, CFO (CBK) 6.12 : Co announced that Michael Lyftogt has been elected Senior Vice President, CFO of the Company. Mr. Lyftogt has worked at the Company for twelve years in a variety of financial roles including Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President, Finance and has served as Interim Chief Financial Officer since July 2010.

8:31AM Marina Biotech reports interim results of their Phase 2-enabling toxicology study for CEQ508; no test article-related adverse responses were identified; no evidence of local immune activation (MRNA) 0.70 : Co announces it has completed a 9 month toxicology study in non-human primates with its first drug candidate, CEQ508. CEQ508 is currently in a Phase 1b/2a clinical development program and is intended for the treatment of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. The results show no test article-related adverse responses were identified in the following parameters: clinical observations, body weights and temperatures, serum chemistry, coagulation, hematology, urinalysis, cytokines and gross pathology. Additionally, monthly biopsies of colonic mucosa showed no evidence of local immune activation. CEQ508 was recently granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development.

8:19AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* China Advanced Construction Materials Group (CADC) announced it has been awarded two high-speed rail contracts valued at $4.1 million total.
* Masimo (MASI) and Royal Fornia Electronic Device jointly announce a worldwide technology licensing agreement to integrate Masimo rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry technology into Royal Fornia's new generation of multiparameter patient monitors.
* Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (TNP) announced two-year time charter extensions for two of its 2009 Korean-built panamax tankers, Chantal and World Harmony. These fixtures will continue with the same charterer, a major South American state affiliated oil entity, at a minimum base rate with open upside for the Company. The gross revenues from the extension of these two charters, assuming only the minimum rate, are expected to be ~$22 million over the corresponding period.
* iGo (IGOI) announced the signing of a marketing, distribution and licensing agreement with PureEnergy Solutions, the world's only manufacturer of rechargeable alkaline batteries.
* Equinix (EQIX) announced that they will jointly sell and market to federal agencies, financial and healthcare enterprises with high security and data protection needs.
* JA Solar (JASO) announces $4.5 mln class action lawsuit settlement.
* Amyris (AMRS) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Givaudan. Under the agreement, Givaudan will develop a derivative of Biofene to be used as a building block for one of the most important proprietary fragrance ingredients in Givaudan's palette. Biofene is the chemical, farnesene, produced using Amyris's bio-based technology and production platform.
* Acuity Brands (AYI) announced it has acquired for cash Sacramento, CA-based Sunoptics, a premier provider of high-performance, prismatic daylighting products.
* DemandTec (DMAN) announced the opening of a new office in Minneapolis, Minn. at 50 South 10th Street, Suite 510.
* Iconic American brand, Keds, a Collective Brands (PSS) business, announced an exclusive licensing agreement with LF USA, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-headquartered multinational Li & Fung Limited, to develop a line of Keds branded apparel for women and men to be sold in retail stores across the U.S. and its territories beginning next year.
* Youku.com (YOKU) recently received several new licenses allowing it to expand its video services in live broadcasting, video search, and production and distribution of original content.

8:18AM El Paso Pipeline Partners misses by $0.02, beats on revs (EPB) 37.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.50 per share, $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.52; revenues rose 13.9% year/year to $352.1 mln vs the $292.6 mln consensus.

8:16AM Vulcan Materials announces that it has received favorable results in two recent arbitrations (VMC) 43.41 : In the first arbitration, which related to the settlement in 2007 of two lawsuits brought against the Company's divested Chemicals business, the Company was awarded $13.5 million against one of its insurers. Of this award, $6 million pretax was recognized in earnings in the third quarter of 2010. The remaining $7.5 million pretax amount will be recognized in earnings in the first quarter of 2011. When combined with settlements reached earlier with four other insurers, the Company now has recovered $37.9 million of the total amounts paid in settlement and for defense expenses in this litigation. The second arbitration related to the $40 million settlement announced on May 18, 2010 of a lawsuit brought against the Company by the State of Illinois and the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Company recorded a charge against earnings for this amount and certain related defense expenses in the second quarter of 2010. In this arbitration, the panel ordered that the Company was entitled to recover $25.5 million under two insurance policies for a portion of the amounts paid in settlement and for defense expenses. The $25.5 million pretax award will be recognized in earnings in the first quarter of 2011.

8:09AM US Cellular misses by $0.14, reports revs in-line (USM) 46.87 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.14 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 0.3% year/year to $1.06 bln vs the $1.07 bln consensus. For FY11, projects service revs of $4.0-$4.1 bln, adjusted OIBDA of $775-$875 mln, operating income of $185-$285 mln, and capex of ~$650 mln.

8:06AM FelCor Lodging beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 FFO in-line (FCH) 7.24 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.04 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.08); revenues rose 10.4% year/year to $232.2 mln vs the $232.3 mln consensus. Same-store RevPAR for 80 consolidated hotels was $79.77, a 5.7% increase compared to the same period in 2009. This increase was driven by a 4.2% occupancy increase to 66.2% and a 1.5% average daily rate increase to $120.47. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees funds from operations of $0.21-0.32 vs. $0.24 Thomson Reuters consensus. For FY11 co sees same-store RevPAR for 81 hotels (including the Fairmont Copley Plaza's results for both years) to increase between 6% and 8%.

8:06AM Valeant Pharmaceuticals beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, above prior guidance; agrees to repurchase $275 mln in common shares from institution (VRX) 38.71 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.51 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 113.4% year/year to $514.6 mln vs the $514.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.45-2.70 vs. $2.51 Thomson Reuters consensus and up from prior guidance of $2.25-2.50. Additionally, co agrees to repurchase common shares from ValueAct Capital for $275 mln at a 5.77% discount over a 20-day trading day average.

8:04AM Pinnacle beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line (PNK) 13.49 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.01 per share, $0.07 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.08); revenues rose 18.6% year/year to $274 mln vs the $274.8 mln consensus.

8:04AM SureWest Comm beats by $0.09, reports revs in-line (SURW) 12.31 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.14 per share, $0.09 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.05; revenues rose 0.8% year/year to $61.6 mln vs the $61.3 mln consensus.

8:03AM Brush Engineered Materials beats by $0.15, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (BW) 34.46 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.61 per share, $0.15 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.46; revenues rose 65.4% year/year to $356 mln vs the $305.1 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.20-2.50 vs. $2.32 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $1.45-1.50 bln vs. $1.33 bln Thomson Reuters consensus, ~5 points of the anticipated 5-11% growth is due to higher metal prices.

8:02AM Capella Education authorizes an increase of the existing share repurchase program by $65 mln up to an aggregate of $113 mln (CPLA) 56.43 : This includes the $48 mln remaining authorization as of Dec. 31, 2010 under the previous share repurchase program.

8:02AM Inventure Foods reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (SNAK) 4.22 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.05 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.05; revenues rose 20.4% year/year to $33.6 mln vs the $31.4 mln consensus.

8:01AM School Specialty announces exchange transaction to retire 3.75% convertible subordinated debentures due 2026 (SCHS) 15.08 : Co enters into separate, privately-negotiated exchange agreements under which it will retire $100 million in aggregate principal of its outstanding 3.75% Convertible Subordinated Debentures due 2026. Following these transactions, $100 million in principal amount of the Existing Debentures will remain outstanding.

7:50AM Royal Bank of Scotland reports net loss of GBP 1.1 bln ($1.78 bln), below the expected GBP 406 mln consensus (RBS) 15.10 : RBS was impacted by Irish loan losses which amounted to approx GBP 1.1 bln. The bank did see some imporvements in bad-loan provision which fell to GBP 9.3 bln from GBP 13.9 bln. Operating profit at the investment bank was GBP 3.5 bln compared with GBP 5.7 bln in the prior year. And revenue continued to slow as it dipped to GBP 7.9 bln from GBP 11. 1 bln. The bank did see a large jump in operating profit at its consumer bank to GBP 1.37 bln from GBP 229 mln. RBS remains in the hands of the British government which owns 83% of the instituion after bailing it out during the credit crisis.

7:50AM Palatin Technologies announces pricing of public offering of common stock and warrants (PTN) 1.04 : Co announces the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 23 mln units, consisting of 23 mln shares of its common stock, Series A Warrants to purchase 2 mln shares of its common stock and Series B Warrants to purchase 21 mln shares of its common stock, at a price to the public of $1.00 per unit. Palatin expects that the net proceeds of the offering will be ~$21.1 mln after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stock, a Series A Warrant exercisable for 0.087 of a share of common stock at an initial exercise price of $1.00 per share and a Series B Warrant exercisable for 0.913 of a share of common stock at an initial exercise price of $1.00 per share.

7:48AM iStar Financial reports adjusted EPS of ($0.42) vs ($0.55) Thomson Reuters consensus (SFI) 8.94 :

7:42AM CommonWealth REIT misses by $0.01 (CWH) 27.69 : Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.88 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.89. As of December 31, 2010, 87.7% of CWH's total square feet was leased, compared to 86.4% as of September 30, 2010 and 88.8% as of December 31, 2009.

7:41AM Northstar Realty beats by $0.35, beats on revs (NRF) 5.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.48 per share, $0.35 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.13; revenues rose 122.3% year/year to $149.4 mln vs the $126 mln consensus.

7:41AM ViroPharma beats by $0.11, beats on revs (VPHM) 16.04 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.11 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.32; revenues rose 38.5% year/year to $121.6 mln vs the $114.5 mln consensus. Outlook: Net Cinryze sales are expected to be $235 to $260 million. Research and development and selling, general and administrative expensesare expected to be $170 to $190 million.

7:41AM Par Pharmaceutical misses by $0.06, beats on revs (PRX) 34.39 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.61 per share, $0.06 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.67; revenues fell 21.8% year/year to $227 mln vs the $210.7 mln consensus.

7:39AM OM Group beats by $0.16, beats on revs (OMG) 35.82 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.77 per share, $0.16 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.61; revenues rose 21.1% year/year to $293.1 mln vs the $276.2 mln consensus. "As we begin 2011, we expect to continue to produce profitable growth and steadily increasing value creation for our shareholders, thanks to our truly global footprint and market-leading positions in fast-growing end markets... Assuming macroeconomic conditions remain relatively steady, we expect to see continued growth across our various end markets. In particular, within our growth platforms of portable power and electronic chemicals, we anticipate continued strong demand for battery materials, semiconductor, memory disk and printed circuit board products. Similarly, at this point in time, we expect industrial and automotive production to remain strong, which bodes well for powder metallurgy. We also believe growing demand for portable power and energy storage solutions from the defense, aerospace and medical sectors will benefit our specialized Battery Technologies businesses."

7:39AM CMS Energy reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (CMS) 19.35 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.21; revenues rose 4.3% year/year to $1.68 bln vs the $1.68 bln consensus.

7:38AM Mylan Labs reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (MYL) 22.46 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.45 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.45; revenues rose 6.1% year/year to $1.43 bln vs the $1.46 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.90-2.10 vs. $1.99 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $6.1-6.4 bln vs. $6.1 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co sees FY11 gross margin profit in the range of 47%-49%. Co also reaffirms 2013 targets of $8.5 bln in revs and $2.75 per diluted share.

7:37AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* The Bon-Ton Stores (BONT) announced the signing of a license and design agreement with Mambo Graphics PTY for the exclusive launch of the Mambo brand in the United States. Under the agreement, Mambo will design the collection while Bon-Ton will manage the sourcing, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of the line.
* China BAK Battery (CBAK) announced that the Company's Tianjin facility was awarded a new contract to supply lithium-ion high-power batteries to leading e-bike manufacturer, XDS Shenzhen Xidesheng Bicycle Co in China.

7:37AM Frontier Oil misses by $0.06, beats on revs (FTO) 26.60 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.06 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.09; revenues rose 51.2% year/year to $1.65 bln vs the $1.52 bln consensus. "The big news is our proposed merger with Holly Corporation announced earlier this week, which we believe will create one of the strongest, most profitable and best capitalized independent refining companies in the United States. We are excited by the opportunities that lie ahead in combining these excellent companies with complex refineries in advantaged crude and product markets."

7:37AM EMCOR Group misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS below consensus, revs above consensus (EME) 30.29 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.59 per share, $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.61; revenues fell 0.2% year/year to $1.36 bln vs the $1.27 bln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.45-1.85 vs. $2.10 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $5.3-5.5 bln vs. $5.26 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:37AM Government Properties Income Trust beats by $0.06, beats on revs (GOV) 26.12 : Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.47 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.41; revenues rose 77.3% year/year to $36.7 mln vs the $34 mln consensus.

7:34AM Strategic Hotels & Resorts reports Q4 FFO of ($0.01) vs $0.02 Thomson Reuters consensus on revs of $184.5 mln vs $191.9 mln consensus; issued downside FY11 FFO guidance (BEE) 6.32 : Co issues FY11 FFO guidance in the range of ($0.02)-$0.07 vs $0.11 Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:32AM Target misses by $0.02, misses on revs (TGT) 50.26 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $1.38 per share, excluding a $0.07 tax benefit, $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.40; revenues rose 2.8% year/year to $20.28 bln vs the $20.76 bln consensus, comps +2.4%. In the fourth quarter, the company repurchased ~7.6 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $54.60, for a total investment of $414 million.

7:29AM Plains Exploration misses by $0.09, beats on revs (PXP) 39.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.29; revenues rose 11.0% year/year to $408.1 mln vs the $400.3 mln consensus.

7:28AM Ocwen Fincl misses by $0.07; revs in-line (OCN) 10.70 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS of $0.09, $0.07 worse than $0.16 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 55.6% to $113.2 mln vs $113.90 Thomson Reuters consensus. Co reports it completed 19,999 loan modifications of which 20% were HAMP modifications which exceeded the upper end of guidance of 16,000 to 19,000.

7:20AM Cogent Communications beats by $0.06, beats on revs (CCOI) 13.86 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.06 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.00); revenues rose 4.0% year/year to $69.5 mln vs the $68.5 mln consensus. Traffic growth of 13% from Q3 2010 to Q4 2010, traffic growth of 24% from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010 and traffic growth of 41% from 2009 to 2010. Total customer connections increased 4.1% to 25,046 as of December 31, 2010 from 24,065 as of September 30, 2010 and increased 17.3% from 21,349 as of December 31, 2009. Co currently has ~45.8 mln common shares outstanding.

7:18AM Express-1 Correction: Last night we incorrectly reported EPS of $0.15, when co actually reported Q4 EPS of $0.02 (XPO) 2.18 : Express-1 reported Q4 $0.02 vs $0.05 single analyst estimate; total revs rose 31% YoY to $41.6 mln - no rev estimate... "2010 was a banner year for XPO in which we made solid gains in both growth and profitability. We continue to believe that our integrated asset-light platform is well positioned for anything the economy can throw at us in 2011. We look forward to increased revenue and bottom line growth in 2011." Our prior comment has been removed.

7:16AM GrafTech Intl beats by $0.06, beats on revs (GTI) 22.43 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding items, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 38.9% year/year to $281.2 mln vs the $247.7 mln consensus. Co expects that Q1 will be their weakest quarter of the year with EBITDA targeted to be in the range of $50-$55 mln. Negatively impacting 1Q11 EBITDA will be approximately $11 mln in intercompany profit in inventory elimination on sales of needle coke and $3 mln in related inventory step-up costs. The margin benefit of first quarter intercompany needle coke sales to our graphite electrode facilities will not be recognized until finished products are sold to third parties... For the full year 2011, co is targeting cash flow from operations to be in the range of $185-$215 mln, an improvement of approximately 40%.

7:15AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Entegris (ENTG) announced a joint development agreement with IBM (IBM) to develop and test new filtration techniques for use in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.
* Socket Mobile (SCKT) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with AboCom Systems, to convert $500K of the Company's trade debt into common stock. The Company will issue a total of 282,485 unregistered common shares at $1.77 per share.
* Mediabistro.com, a division of WebMediaBrands (WEBM) announced that it has acquired the assets of the Twittercism.com blog from Shea Bennett.
* AECOM Technology Corporation (ACM) announced that it has been awarded a five-year, US$17.6-million planning and design contract for Phase I services of India's Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
* Bruker (BRKR) announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Michrom Bioresources. Michrom provides liquid chromatography instrumentation, accessories, and consumables for applications in the life science, chemical and applied markets.
* Universal Travel Group (UTA) following its previous announcement on its new business expansion plan to franchise its recently obtained International Travel License from China National Tourism Association, announces it has granted its franchise to five more franchisees.
* Atmel (ATML) announced a new family of QTouch capacitive touch controllers for implementing button, slider and wheel functionality on application-specific devices.
* Power Integrations (POWI) announced that PI Expert Suite Version 8, the latest upgrade to the co's immensely popular power supply design software, is now available in simplified and traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian, as well as English.
* Marvell (MRVL) announced that ASUS has chosen Marvell as a strategic partner to launch a new series of TD-SCDMA smartphones in China.
* Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals (BAYRY) and Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX) announced the companies have begun enrolling patients in a Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating Nexavar tablets in combination with the oral chemotherapeutic agent, capecitabine, versus placebo plus capecitabine for the treatment of patients with advanced breast cancer.

7:15AM AerCap beats by $0.06, beats on revs (AER) 14.00 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 38.3% year/year to $397.7 mln vs the $379.1 mln consensus. This increase resulted primarily from an increase in basic lease rents driven by the additional aircraft acquired in the Genesis Transaction and the deliveries of forward order aircraft. For similar reasons, net income excluding the impact of mark-to-market of interest rate caps and share-based compensation increased by 40%.

7:14AM First American Financial beats by $0.14, beats on revs (FAF) 15.61 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.14 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.30; revenues fell 0.8% year/year to $1.02 bln vs the $968 mln consensus.

7:14AM Kohl's increases share repurchase authorization by $2.6 bln to $3.5 bln (KSS) 52.02 : Co increases the Company's share repurchase authorization under its existing share repurchase program by $2.6 billion, to $3.5 billion. Co expects to recommence share repurchases in the coming months primarily in open market transactions, subject to market conditions, and expects to complete the program by the end of fiscal 2013.

7:13AM Lexington reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides FY11 FFO below consensus (LXP) 9.14 : Reports Q4 (Dec) funds from operations of $0.24 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.24; revenues fell 0.1% year/year to $85.7 mln vs the $89.6 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY11, sees FFO of $0.90-0.93 vs. $0.99 Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:12AM Oxford Resource Partners reports Q4 (Dec) results, revs in-line (OXF) 26.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.05 per share, may not be comparable to the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 1.1% year/year to $89.3 mln vs the $88.8 mln consensus. "We believe our performance in 2011 will be driven by our fully contracted sales book and record volume along with cost efficiencies realized from the investments we made in 2010. We believe our cost per ton will be in-line in 2011 as compared to 2010, primarily from cost improvements in our Illinois Basin operations, offset by low single-digit cost inflation. With our expected average sales price increasing at least 5% and up to 7% from the 2010 level, we believe we will be able to achieve growth in our revenue, net income, adjusted EBITDA and distributable cash flow in 2011. We are excited about the future of the coal markets and for Oxford, and we expect to fully cover our distribution in 2011. And with our committed sales portfolio, we believe we are poised to provide growth in distributions to unitholders in subsequent years."

7:11AM Crude oil futures, both WTI and Brent, are continuing their respective rallies this morning (COMDX) :

* April WTI crude surged to highs at $103.41 in overnight trade, but has since pulled back by close to 3 points; currently higher by $2.56 to $100.66.
* April Brent crude oil rallied to as high as $119.79 in the overnight session, but has also pulled back, over 5 points, from those highs; currently higher by $3.24 to $114.49.
* Supply disruptions in Libya and fears that the unrest could spread to other major producers in the region, including Saudi Arabia, continue to drive the market higher (note that inventory data for crude oil is due out at 11am ET this morning).

7:09AM Targa Resources beats by $0.04 (NGLS) 33.52 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.39 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.35.

7:07AM Symmetry Medical misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (SMA) 8.91 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.14 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.15; revenues rose 25.7% year/year to $96 mln vs the $96.9 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.57-0.65 vs. $0.69 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $363-383 mln vs. $384.52 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:07AM Impax Labs beats by $0.01, misses on revs (IPXL) 22.22 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.22; revenues fell 43.7% year/year to $99.1 mln vs the $111.5 mln consensus. " We continue to progress toward filing the new drug application in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2011. In the generics division, we are taking action to favorably resolve the issue of supply of generic Adderall XR from Shire (SHPGY). We received some product from the 2010 quota in February and expect additional product from that quota in March; the first shipment of the 2011 quota is expected in early April... Impax therefore is pursuing every available means to acquire sufficient product to meet that greater demand, including aggressively enforcing its contractual rights through expedited litigation." Co previously disclosed its full year 2011 forecast on January 10, 2011. Co provides this further update to its full year 2010 forecast. Cash flows from operating activities, less capital expenditures (Free Cash Flow), planned to be positive. Gross margins as a percent of total revenues of ~50%. Total research and development expenses across the generic and brand divisions to ~$87 mln with generic R&D of ~$47 mln and brand R&D of ~$40 mln. Patent litigation expenses of ~$13 mln. Selling, general and administrative expenses of ~$65 mln. Updated February 2011 - capital expenditures to be ~$69 mln.

7:07AM Holly misses by $0.12, beats on revs (HOC) 55.31 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.27 per share, $0.12 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.39; revenues rose 33.1% year/year to $2.21 bln vs the $2.13 bln consensus. "To date in the first quarter of 2011, steep discounts on WTI price related crudes compared to world oil prices and strong gasoline and diesel prices have raised margins at all three of our refineries. However, reduced production at our Navajo refinery over the last month due to the resultant impacts of a plant-wide power failure and bad weather will result in lower production than expected. Operations at Navajo are in the process of ramping back up to more typical levels."

7:06AM ANSYS beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ANSS) 53.32 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.65 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.59; revenues rose 10.8% year/year to $166.6 mln vs the $161.5 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.53-0.56 vs. $0.53 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $151-157 mln vs. $150.04 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.27-2.35 vs. $2.32 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $640-660 mln vs. $646.74 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:06AM IMAX reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (IMAX) 27.78 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.21; revenues rose 27.7% year/year to $69.2 mln vs the $60.8 mln consensus. Based on theatres in backlog as of today, the Company is increasing its expectation for theatre network growth in 2011. The Company now expects to install between 80 and 90 new theatres (40 to 45 new joint revenue sharing systems and 40 to 45 new sales-type lease systems, excluding upgrades) this year. This implies year-over-year commercial multiplex network growth of at least 20%, as today's outlook is only based on theatres currently in backlog and does not account for any theatres that may both sign and install within 2011. The Company cautions that installations can slip from period to period, usually for reasons beyond its control.

7:05AM Patterson Companies misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY11 EPS below consensus and previously stated guidance (PDCO) 32.74 : Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.47 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.48; revenues rose 0.6% year/year to $824.7 mln vs the $833.1 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.86-1.88 vs. $1.90 Thomson Reuters consensus and down from the previously-issued guidance of $1.89 to $1.99.

7:04AM Kohl's reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs above consensus; guides FY12 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (KSS) 52.02 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $1.66 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.66; revenues rose 6.3% year/year to $6.04 bln vs the $6.04 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.68-0.73 vs. $0.72 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs +4-6% YoY to ~$4.196-4.277 bln vs. $4.19 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $4.05-4.25 vs. $4.35 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY12 revs +4-6% to ~$19.13-19.49 bln vs. $19.41 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

7:04AM Longwei Petroleum expects to benefit from the gasoline and diesel price increase enacted by China's National Development and Reform Commission on February 21; reaffirms guidance (LPH) 2.25 : Co announces that it expects to benefit from the gasoline and diesel price increase enacted by China's National Development and Reform Commission on February 21, 2011. The 4.5% increase, which translates to $53.20 per ton, is the second increase in the past two months and is based on a mechanism that allows the NDRC to adjust fuel prices when the cost of crude oil changes by more than 4 percent over a period of 22 working days. "The NDRC's decision will allow us to raise prices of our fuel products, which we anticipate will have a positive effect on our revenues and profits going forward. We also expect to experience a slight gross margin improvement, as our inventory on-hand is recorded on a weighted average basis and will be sold at higher market prices. Given the increase in demand for fuel and oil products as well as the fuel price increase, we are confident in our ability to meet our guidance of $500 million in revenues and $70 million in net income, or $0.62 EPS, for fiscal 2011."

7:02AM Universal Stainless/Alloy announces a base price increase of 5% on all stainless and low alloy grade bar products manufactured at its Bridgeville and Dunkirk facilities (USAP) 32.00 : Co announces a base price increase of 5% on all stainless and low alloy grade bar products manufactured at its Bridgeville and Dunkirk facilities. The increase will be effective for all new orders entered March 1, 2011. Current material and energy surcharges will remain in effect.

7:00AM LTX-Credence beats by $0.04, misses on revs; guides Q3 EPS, revs above consensus (LTXC) 8.82 : Reports Q2 (Jan) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $52.5 mln vs the $55.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.17-0.21, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.13 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $57-61 mln vs. $56.97 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

6:52AM Cinemark beats by $0.11, beats on revs (CNK) 18.66 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.11 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.22; revenues fell 2.1% year/year to $524.9 mln vs the $516.1 mln consensus.

6:50AM Foster Wheeler misses by $0.15, beats on revs (FWLT) 34.77 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.15 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.46; revenues fell 4.3% year/year to $1.21 bln vs the $994.9 mln consensus. "As we have previously indicated, we expect Foster Wheeler's consolidated financial results in 2011 to reflect the lagging impact of the weak market conditions we experienced in 2009 and 2010, although we are clearly seeing encouraging signs of market recovery in each of our business groups. We see 2011 as a transition year that will likely reflect increased scope revenues in both the Global E&C Group and the Global Power Group as the year progresses, although the magnitude of the increase will be different in the two business groups and will depend to some extent on the timing of client decisions. In our Global E&C Group, scope revenue in 2011 is likely to be above the level of 2010. We expect the full-year 2011 EBITDA margin on scope revenue to be in the range of 13-15%, which would be down from the reported margin of 2010 due largely to competitive pressure. We were encouraged to see a sharp increase in our E&C bidding activity during the fourth quarter for study and FEED prospects, which can be a precursor to increased client spending over the next several years. In our Global Power Group, we expect scope revenue to be up sharply in 2011 versus 2010, reflecting the increased volume of boiler orders that we have won over the past 12 to 18 months. We expect the EBITDA margin on scope revenue in 2011 to be in the range of 14-16%."

6:47AM Magellan Health beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line (MGLN) 49.14 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.95 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.91; revenues rose 4.2% year/year to $749.2 mln vs the $756.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.93-3.43 vs. $3.35 Thomson Reuters consensus, up from $2.84-3.33 due to share repurchases.

6:42AM Ritchie Bros. misses by $0.02, misses on revs (RBA) 26.43 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.15; revenues fell 9.1% year/year to $88.3 mln vs the $92 mln consensus. "As we begin 2011 we see many signs of the used equipment market returning to a more balanced state. Equipment owners are more optimistic, OEM production is increasing to satisfy growing demand, and pricing has improved on most equipment categories... The success of our early auctions in 2011 and the flow of consignments for upcoming auctions provide clues to a return to brighter days ahead as we set about to offer compelling business solutions to enable the world's builders to easily and confidently exchange equipment."

6:40AM Susser misses by $0.04, reports revs in-line (SUSS) 15.78 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $1.01 bln vs the $1 bln consensus. Co reports 4Q same-store merchandise sales were up 7.3%. With regard to 2011, co sees Merchandise Same-Store Sales Growth 2.0-4.5%; New Retail Stores of 18-22; New Wholesale Dealer Sites of 15-30; Gross Capital Spending of $100-$125 mln. "As the recovery gains momentum in 2011, we expect to see additional growth in both merchandise and fuel volumes, although we do not expect to match the unusually strong fuel margins of 2010."

6:39AM Titan Intl beats by $0.11, beats on revs (TWI) 20.09 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.05; revenues rose 58.8% year/year to $232.7 mln vs the $193.9 mln consensus. The increase in sales was primarily due to a substantial increase in demand in the agricultural segment, up ~20%; and the earthmoving/construction segment, up ~32%.

6:36AM LKQ Corp reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line (LKQX) 24.95 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.28 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.28; revenues rose 21.2% year/year to $674 mln vs the $640.9 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.31-1.39, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.35 Thomson Reuters consensus. "We continue to see opportunities for organic growth through increased use of alternative parts, an improving economy, additional geographic expansion and an enhanced product offering. Revenue from parts and services is anticipated to grow organically in 2011 at a rate of 6% to 8%." Net cash provided by operating activities for 2011 is projected to be ~$195 mln. The co estimates capital expenditures related to property and equipment will be between $85-95 mln.

6:33AM Sanderson Farms misses by $0.54, beats on revs (SAFM) 43.86 : Reports Q1 (Jan) loss of $0.87 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.54 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.33); revenues rose 1.8% year/year to $427.7 mln vs the $410 mln consensus. "We believe fiscal 2011 will be a challenging year for Sanderson Farms and our industry. We are already experiencing escalating grain prices, especially for corn, which are at near-record levels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently reported that corn supplies are at their tightest levels in 15 years. Experience tells us that production adjustments will ultimately balance supply and demand and support market prices that will allow us, over time, to offset higher feed costs. Such adjustments will take time. Despite the challenging environment, we will continue to operate our business with a focus on those things we can control."

6:31AM Salix Pharma anticipates receipt of FDA Complete Response Letter on XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets supplemental new drug application; CRL indicate that the application is not ready for approval (SLXP) 41.45 : Co announces that based on a telephone conversation with the FDA held last evening, co anticipates receiving a Complete Response Letter on or before the March 7, 2011 PDUFA goal date for the supplemental New Drug Application for XIFAXAN (rifaximin) 550 mg tablets for the proposed indication of treatment of non-constipation irritable bowel syndrome and IBS-related bloating. The FDA issues a Complete Response Letter to indicate that the review cycle for an application is complete and that the application is not ready for approval.

6:31AM Integra beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs below consensus; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (IART) 49.88 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.80 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.73; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $194.1 mln vs the $193.1 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of -7 to -8% QoQ to ~$178.6-180.5 mln vs. $184.05 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.87-3.02, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $2.99 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $765-780 mln vs. $773.39 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "The co anticipates revenues between $765-780 million, at current exchange rates. As has been the case in the past, we expect revenues in the first quarter of 2011 to be 7% to 8% lower than the fourth quarter of 2010, and earnings to be disproportionately lower, and that the fourth quarter of 2011 will be the strongest quarter of the year. The Company is guiding to GAAP earnings per diluted share of between $1.97 and $2.12 and to adjusted earnings per diluted share of between $2.87 and $3.02. In accordance with our usual practice, expectations for financial performance do not include the impact of acquisitions or other strategic corporate transactions that have not yet closed."

6:30AM Carrizo Oil & Gas announces 2010 proved reserve growth of 40%, reserve replacement of 752%, and provides operations update (CRZO) 37.09 : Co annnounces estimated 2010 production and year-end proved reserves and updates its results from operations. Proved Reserves and Production Year-end 2010 estimated proved reserves, as determined by co's third-party engineers, grew by 40% year-on-year to a record 842 Bcfe, consisting of 671 Bcf of natural gas, a 31% increase over 2009 levels and 28.5 MMbbls of oil, condensate and NGLs, a 92% increase over 2009. Co also announces proven reserves, which are biased on an average oil price of $76.05 per barrel and a natural gas price of $4.38 per million BTU. These prices were 32% higher and 13% higher than the prices used at the end of 2009 for oil and natural gas, respectively. Carrizo successfully replaced 752% of its estimated 2010 record production of 36.8 Bcfe.

6:27AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Gold Resource Corporation (GORO) reported expansion of the mill's crushing plant at its El Aguila Project. The Aguila mill's crushing plant was improved and expanded with the addition of a tertiary crusher enabling not only additional capacity but smaller size feed to the ball mills.
* Acacia Research Corporation (ACTG) announced that its subsidiary, Data Network Storage, has entered into a license agreement with International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). The license agreement resolves litigation that was pending in the Southern District of California.
* Knapheide Manufacturing Company has selected BAF Technologies, a subsidiary of Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE), as the exclusive provider of aftermarket CNG fuel systems for light-duty Ford trucks configured with Knapheide service bodies.
* Chart Industries (GTLS) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chart Energy & Chemicals, has been awarded a contract to provide the process design and proprietary equipment for a world scale Nitrogen Rejection facility with integrated Natural Gas Liquids recovery to be constructed in the State of Qatar. The contract amount for the process design and supply of the cold boxes, brazed aluminium heat exchangers and associated equipment exceeds $90 million.

6:27AM Linn Energy beats by $0.02 (LINE) 38.77 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.43 per share, ex-items, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.41. LINN estimates that it will grow production more than 30 percent in 2011. The co plans to achieve this growth through a 2011 oil and gas capital program of $480 mln. The co expanded its hedge positions for 2011 through 2015 during the third quarter 2010. Based on current production estimates, the co is ~100 percent hedged on a natural gas and oil equivalent basis through 2013, 80 percent for 2014 and 50 percent for 2015. For 2011, the co is hedged at a weighted average oil price of $84.09 per Bbl and a weighted average natural gas price of $8.24 per Mcf.

6:26AM Chart Indust beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (GTLS) 37.94 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.36 per share, excluding restructuring charges, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.32; revenues rose 21.9% year/year to $158.8 mln vs the $151 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.70-1.90, excluding restructuring charges, vs. $1.78 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $710-750 mln vs. $693.00 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Backlog at December 31, 2010 was $236.4 mln, up 28% from the December 31, 2009 level of $185.1 mln, and 11% higher than the backlog of $212.6 mln at September 30, 2010. Orders for the fourth quarter of 2010 were $182.2 mln compared with third quarter 2010 orders of $146.8 mln, an improvement of $35.4 mln or 24%.

6:25AM McCormick outlines strategy for growth at CAGNY Conference (MKC) 78.50 : When discussing the co's investment strategy for the year ahead, co talked about how acquisitions and joint ventures have played a role in growing the McCormick portfolio. The Company has made particularly notable progress in emerging markets which it expects to grow to 12% of sales by 2015 from 9 percent in 2010. "Following $54 million of cost reductions in 2010, McCormick expects to deliver at least $40 million of savings in 2011."

6:24AM Olympic Steel misses by $0.18, beats on revs (ZEUS) 28.10 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.15 per share, $0.18 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.03; revenues rose 55.4% year/year to $215.2 mln vs the $190.3 mln consensus. "We experienced strong momentum in material demand in the fourth quarter. Along with announced price increases in all of our product lines beginning in November of 2010 and continuing still, our year-end inventory positions present additional opportunities for market share growth and profitability into the coming year."

6:21AM Lexicon Pharma provides clinical pipeline update (LXRX) 1.80 : "We achieved significant progress in the advancement of our drug pipeline in 2010, led by positive results in clinical trials of LX4211 for type 2 diabetes... We also reported the results of a Phase 2a trial of LX2931 in rheumatoid arthritis, demonstrating a preliminary signal of efficacy and favorable safety profile that we believe supports exploration of higher doses in future studies." Key developments in 2010 include:

6:20AM ICON plc reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (ICLR) 21.96 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.36 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.36; revenues rose 2.1% year/year to $232.1 mln vs the $228.7 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.10-1.25 vs. $1.49 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $945-980 mln vs. $961.64 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "we are making significant investments to build additional capabilities, to leverage our scale more effectively, and to implement process and systems change necessary to prosper in the evolving market. We do not expect the benefit of our investments to be realised until late 2011 and into 2012."

6:20AM DISH Network beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (DISH) 22.93 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.56 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.54; revenues rose 8.4% year/year to $3.21 bln vs the $3.21 bln consensus. DISH Network lost ~156,000 net subscribers during the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2010, giving the co ~14.133 million subscribers at year-end. The number of net subscribers gained for the full year ended Dec. 31, 2010, was ~33,000.

6:17AM Newmont Mining beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (NEM) 59.11 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.14; revenues rose 1.2% year/year to $2.55 bln vs the $2.57 bln consensus. Outlook: 2011 attributable gold production is expected to be ~5.1-5.3 million ounces, with attributable copper production of 190 to 220 million pounds. The volume outlook reflects lower expected production at Batu Hijau as it moves into Phase 6 stripping, partially offset by higher production expected at Nevada and Ahafo. Costs applicable to sales are expected to be between $560 and $590 per ounce due to lower expected production at Batu Hijau, combined with higher expected costs for energy, labor, and contracted services. Costs applicable to sales are expected to be between $1.25 and $1.50 per pound of copper due to lower production at Batu Hijau. Reserves: Co increased attributable gold reserves by 1.7 mln ounces to 93.5 mln ounces in 2010. For 2011, Newmont has budgeted $360 mln (on a consolidated basis, including capitalized expenditures) for its exploration program, an increase of ~44% from 2010.

6:15AM Swift Energy misses by $0.10, misses on revs (SFY) 47.32 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.25 per share, $0.10 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.35; revenues rose 1.0% year/year to $116 mln vs the $119.6 mln consensus. For 2011, co is targeting production to increase 25-30% and proved reserves to increase 15-20%, over respective 2010 levels. "Our improving operational efficiencies and contractually committed third party services and equipment give us confidence that we will continue to grow at a consistent pace during 2011. Corporate production in 2011 is expected to grow 25% - 30%, and reserves volumes are expected to grow 15% - 20%. Capital expenditures are expected to range from $430 million to $480 million, net of potential dispositions of non-strategic properties."

6:12AM Dollar Thrifty authorizes a share repurchase program providing for the repurchase of up to $100 million of its stock (DTG) 52.57 : The share repurchase program is discretionary and has no expiration date.

6:11AM Iron Mountain reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs in-line (IRM) 25.98 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.30 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.30; revenues rose 1.2% year/year to $789 mln vs the $789.8 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $1.21-1.30 vs. $1.24 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $3.175-3.240 bln vs. $3.23 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. The co expects capital expenditures for the year to be ~$245 mln. As of December 31, 2010, the co had repurchased an aggregate of 4.8 mln shares for a total cost of ~$111 mln. As of December 31, 2010, there was ~$239 mln remaining under the existing authorization for future share repurchases.

6:10AM Thermo Fisher to sell Athena Diagnostics and Lancaster Laboratories businesses for a total of $940 mln (TMO) 54.97 : Co announces that it has signed definitive agreements to sell its Athena Diagnostics and Lancaster Laboratories businesses for a total of $940 million in cash. The company reached an agreement to sell Athena Diagnostics to Quest Diagnostics (DGX) for $740 million. The business had ~$110 million in revenues for full year 2010, has ~300 employees and is part of the company's specialty diagnostics business within its Analytical Technologies Segment. Co also reached an agreement to sell Lancaster Laboratories to Eurofins Scientific SE for $200 million. The business had ~$115 million in revenues for full year 2010, has ~1,100 employees at its operations in the U.S. and Ireland, and is part of the company's biopharma services business within its Laboratory Products and Services Segment.

6:03AM Sears Hldg beats by $0.10, beats on revs (SHLD) 87.23 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $3.67 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $3.57; revenues fell 0.8% year/year to $13.14 bln vs the $12.97 bln consensus. For the quarter, domestic comparable store sales declined 1.2%, which comprises an increase at Kmart of 2.5% and a decline at Sears Domestic of 4.5%. arel. Over half of the total in both periods occurred in consumer electronics. In contrast, Sears' fo jewelry, and automotive categories generated comparable store sales during the period. Merchandise inventories at January 29, 2011 were $9.1 billion, as compared to $8.7 billion at January 30, 2010. Domestic inventory increased ~$270 million to $8.3 billion at January 29, 2011. The increase was primarily in the Kmart apparel, electronics, toys, footwear and sporting goods categories. Sears Canada's inventory levels increased ~$150 million to $868 million at January 29, 2011 primarily due to the change in exchange rates, lower sales and the timing of merchandise receipts.

5:52AM PetroQuest Energy misses by $0.10, misses on revs (PQ) 8.39 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.10 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.13; revenues fell 19.5% year/year to $43.4 mln vs the $44.2 mln consensus. Co sees Q1 Production volumes (MMcfe/d) of 80 - 83. Co's FY11 CapEx budget of $110-120 mln

4:46AM Australia Economic Data (EWA) 25.42 : Dec Conference Board Leading Index +0.7% vs +0.2% in Nov
Nov Average Weekly Wages +3.9% vs +4.6% in Nov 09
Q4 Private Cap Ex +1.3% vs +6.9% in Q3

4:37AM Northern Trust to acquire Bank of Ireland Securities Services for ~$82 mln (NTRS) 52.40 : Co announces that it reached an agreement to acquire the fund administration, investment operations outsourcing and custody business of the Bank of Ireland Group, Bank of Ireland Securities Services. Co will pay up to EUR60 mln (~$82 mln) to acquire the business. It is anticipated that on completion of the transaction, co's combined assets under custody and administration in Ireland will increase by ~EUR70 bln (~$96 bln).

4:33AM Partner Comms announces the private issuance of additional Unsecured Non-Convertible Series C Notes (PTNR) 18.51 : Co announces that, following the public offering in Israel of unsecured non-convertible Series C Notes of the co pursuant to a shelf offering report dated April 15, 2010, as amended to date and in accordance with the shelf prospectus dated September 3, 2009, it has agreed with classified institutional investors in Israel to issue in a private placement an additional NIS443,514,739 in principal amount of Series C Notes (~$122 mln). The terms of the Additional Notes are identical to the terms of the currently outstanding Series C Notes previously issued.

3:28AM Endeavour Intl reports increase in proved and probable reserves in 2010; results in a 419% reserve replacement rate (END) 12.88 : Co announces an increase in proved and probable reserves as of December 31, 2010 resulting in a 419 percent reserve replacement rate of 2010 production, based on 2P reserves. Proved and probable reserves at year-end 2010 increased to 43.7 mln barrels of oil equivalent compared to 38.9 mmboe a year ago. Extensions, discoveries, sales and purchases added 6.3 mmboe during 2010. Production for the year was 1.5 mmboe.

2:38AM Crescent Finl: Piedmont Community Bank Holdings to invest $75 mln in co; acquires majority interst (CRFN) 2.17 : Co announces that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Piedmont will invest $75 mln in co and therefore acquire a majority interest in the co. The definitive agreement provides that Piedmont will invest $75 mln in Crescent in exchange for CRFN common stock priced at $4 per share. As a result of the investment, Piedmont will own ~66% of co's shares on a fully diluted basis. In addition, the agreement provides for Piedmont to make a tender offer to co's existing shareholders to purchase up to 67% of currently outstanding common stock at a price of $4.75 per share. If the maximum number of shares is tendered, Piedmont will pay ~$30.6 mln for all such shares, and Piedmont would then own a total of ~89% of all outstanding common shares.

2:26AM Ensco beats by $0.20, beats on revs (ESV) 53.07 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.90 per share, $0.20 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.70; revenues fell 17.9% year/year to $408.5 mln vs the $400.7 mln consensus. Co expects further pressure on average reported jackup day rates in the first quarter as higher day rates from prior contracts are renewed at today's lower market rates, however, co adds that leading-edge market day rates for premium jackup rigs have begun to increase in some regions over the past several months. For full year 2011, jackup utilization is anticipated to increase modestly.

2:17AM Golden Star Resources misses by $0.07, reports revs in-line; increases mineral reserves by 24%; increases measured and indicated mineral resources by 63% (GSS) 3.92 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.08 per share, $0.07 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.01); revs of $105.0 mln vs $105.7 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. For 2011, co sees total gold production (in oz) of 330,000-360,000 at a cash operating cost of $800 - $870 per oz. The exploration budget for 2011 is $30 mln and these funds will also be focused on resource definition drilling surrounding our operating areas in Ghana as well as very selective exploration and drilling at our other West African projects, and an increased level of exploration activity in Brazil. Additionally, co reports net of mining depletion, increased by 882,000 ounces or 24% by reaching a tonnage of 65.3 mln grading 2.20 g/t for contained gold of 4.62 mln ounces at year end. Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources increased 63% over 2009 to 54.9 mln tonnes grading 1.99 g/t gold. Inferred Mineral Resources increased 20% over 2009 to 16.5 mln tonnes grading 3.66 g/t gold.

2:09AM Concho Resources misses by $0.03, beats on revs (CXO) 108.20 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.75 per share, $0.03 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.78; revenues rose 89.4% year/year to $323.2 mln vs the $313.7 mln consensus. During the fourth quarter and early into the first quarter, the co has continued to add to its oil derivative positions. For 2011, the co has 10.4 MMBbls of oil and 12.3 Bcf of natural gas hedged. For 2012, the co currently has 8.0 MMBbls of oil and 0.3 Bcf of natural gas hedged.

1:52AM Aqua America reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (WTR) 22.75 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.21; revenues rose 6.8% year/year to $179.3 mln vs the $183.7 mln consensus.

1:25AM E*TRADE provides February month-to-date DARTS; +2% MoM; updates to its loan delinquencies (ETFC) 16.65 : Co reports its Daily Average Revenue Trades through February 22, 2011, and monthly delinquencies in its loan portfolio for the months of November and December 2010, and January 2011. DARTs through February 22, 2011 were ~184,000, a 2% increase from January. For the co's entire loan portfolio, total special mention delinquencies (30 to 89 days delinquent) declined 6% from December 31, 2010 to January 31, 2011, while total "at risk" delinquencies (30 to 179 days delinquent) declined by 4% during the same period.

1:17AM Yamana Gold increases mineral reserves by 26% and mineral resources by 12% (AUY) 12.44 : Co announces its mineral reserves and mineral resources for the year ended December 31, 2010. The co's total proven and probable mineral gold reserves increased by 4.5 mln ounces to 22.1 mln ounces, which represents a 26% increase over the previous year. Measured and indicated gold resources increased by 12% from 2009 to 14.5 mln ounces. Silver and copper proven and probable mineral reserves increased by 3% and 9%, respectively.

1:11AM Maxcom Telecom appoints new CEO (MXT) 3.70 : Co announces Salvador Alvarez has joined the Company as CEO, replacing William Nazaret who has been with the co for the past two years. Alvarez was most recently CEO of Medicus. Nazaret will remain with the co as an external advisor for a transition period.

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