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Market Update: 110311
4:30 pm : Stocks overcame a sluggish start that stemmed from a negative response to news of a massive earthquake in Japan to book solid gains in the final session of the week, but the advance wasn't nearly enough to offset the prior session's precipitous drop.

Overseas markets sold off overnight and this morning following news of a massive earthquake in Japan. The earthquake prompted numerous tsunami warnings across the globe.

Although they maintained a defensive posture, early participants weren't willing to further penalize stocks after the near 2% drop that they booked yesterday amid a barrage of negative macro-related news items. That left stocks to spend the first couple of hours chopping along near the neutral line.

Energy stocks eventually emerged as a source of leadership. The sector slumped 3.6% in the prior session, but rebounded to a 1.6% gain today. The move came in the face of continued declines in oil prices. Oil actually fell as low as $99 per barrel in early electronic trade amid a knee-jerk response to news of the earthquake, but the energy component pared some of its loss to end pit trade at $101.13 per barrel, down 1.5% for the day.

Broader market support helped bring about a strong bid for semiconductor stocks. The group had entered the day with a week-to-date loss of almost 8%, but they ended the day with a 1.0% gain. National Semiconductor (NSM 14.70, +0.54) was a leader in the group after it reported its latest quarterly results, which featured only in-line earnings.

In other corporate news, Aeropostale (ARO 23.05, -1.58) posted a better-than-expected bottom line for its latest quarter, but issued downside guidance. That left the stock to suffer its worst single-session loss in three months. The rest of the retailer space advanced to a 0.8% gain.

As for data, the preliminary Consumer Sentiment Survey for March from the University of Michigan. The Survey came in at 68.2, which marked its worst reading in five months and was well short of the Briefing.com consensus call for 76.5. Some selling followed the number, but it had little lasting effect on trade.

Advance retail sales for February showed a 1.00% increase, which is spot on with the Briefing.com consensus call. Retail sales for January were revised upward to reflect a 0.7% increase. Excluding autos, retail sales increased by 0.7%, which is narrowly better than the 0.6% increase that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.

January business inventories were just posted. They showed a 0.9% increase, which is slightly stronger than the 0.8% increase that had been broadly expected.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+1.6%), Materials (+1.4%), Industrials (+1.2%), Financial (+0.8%), Tech (+0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Utilities (+0.3%), Health Care (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-0.6%), Consumer Staples (-0.1%)DJ30 +59.79 NASDAQ +14.59 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.7% SP500 +9.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1374/1.86 bln/1234 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1925/921 mln/1023

3:30 pm : Precious metals overcame early weakness to finish the week in strong fashion. Specifically, gold prices were as low as $1404.80 per ounce in early morning electronic trade, but they settled pit trade with a 0.7% gain at $1421 per ounce. Meanwhile, silver prices were down as low as $34.07 per ounce before swinging settling pit trade with a 2.8% gain at $36.01 per ounce.

Natural gas prices also staged strong gains. The energy component closed the session with a 1.3% gain at $3.89 per MMBtu.

Oil prices spent the entire session in the red as they extended their downturn from the two-year high of nearly $107 per barrel that was set earlier this week. Oil prices finished today's pit trade with a 1.5% loss at $101.13 per barrel. DJ30 +67.39 NASDAQ +17.00 SP500 +9.95 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1479/1.47 bln/1104 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2021/630 mln/906

3:00 pm : Stocks continue to slowly add to their gains. The gradual advance has the stock market sitting at session highs and a few points back above its 50-day moving average as it enters the final hour of the day. Although the action is making for a strong finish to the week, stocks are still on track for a weekly loss in ecess of 1%.DJ30 +68.94 NASDAQ +17.25 SP500 +10.27 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1368/1.36 bln/1203 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1877/580 mln/1031

2:30 pm : Stocks have extended their advance so that the major equity averages now sit at fresh session highs. Although the move has stocks up nicely for the day, they still have a long way to go before they can fully offset the steep loss suffered in the prior session.

Despite data this morning, the scare of a massive earthquake in Japan, and the threat of tsunamis, participation hasn't been very strong today. In turn only a little more than a half-billion shares have exchanged hands on they NYSE today. Only once in three weeks has share volume on the Big Board failed to exceed 1 billion shares for a full day of trade. DJ30 +49.23 NASDAQ +12.62 SP500 +8.32 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1237/1.22 bln/1286 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1734/531 mln/1162

2:00 pm : Stocks have recovered from a recent slip, but they aren't quite back at session highs, which were set shortly after noon ET.

Shares of retailers have jumped out to a 0.8% gain, even though apparel and accessories retailer Aeropostale (ARO 23.08, -1.55) issued downside guidance for the current quarter and for fiscal 2012. Disappointment over ARO's announcement has the stock on pace for its worst single-session performance in three months. The stock is now down close to 6% this year, while the rest of the retailer space is flat for the year. DJ30 +18.84 NASDAQ +7.03 SP500 +5.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1193/1.15 bln/1326 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1710/497 mln/1185

1:30 pm : A recent fit of selling has dragged each of the major equity averages down to afternoon lows. The general tone among market participants remains positive, though; as such, eight of the 10 major sectors are still in higher ground -- telecom stocks are down 0.6% and consumer staples issues are down 0.3%.

Silver prices are making an impressive push into the close of pit trade. The precious metal had been down more than 1% in the early going, but it is now up 2.3% to $35.86 per ounce. Gold prices currently sport a 0.5% gain at $1420 per ounce. DJ30 +14.57 NASDAQ +7.50 SP500 +4.61 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1217/1.06 bln/1300 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1647/460 mln/1226

1:00 pm : Stocks struggled to find their direction this morning as participants reacted to sell-offs in Asia and Europe after a massive earthquake hit Japan and prompted numerous tsunami alerts. Amid the morning action the S&P 500 actually slipped below a key technical line to a new monthly low, but it has since rebounded to a solid gain.

News of the tsunami in Japan overshadowed February advance retail sales, which increased by an in-line 1.00%. Excluding autos, retail sales increased by a slightly stronger-than-expected 0.7%. A 0.9% increase in January business inventories was also largely ignored, but a six-month low in the Consumer Sentiment Survey from the University of Michigan drew some negative attention.

Natural resource plays have emerged as leaders. Energy stocks were among the few to jump out to strong gains in the early going, but materials have followed it higher so that both sectors are up 1.4%. Energy's advance comes after the sector tumbled 3.6% in the prior session and flies in the face of another pullback in oil prices, which are currently down 1.7% to $101 per barrel.

Oil's slip has been particularly beneficial to shares of airlines, which are collectively up 1.1% at the moment. Airline shares are actually up almost 5% this week.

In contrast, semiconductor stocks entered this session with a weekly loss of almost 8%, but the group has been bid up to a 0.6% gain today. National Semiconductor (NSM 14.54, +0.38) is a top performer in its space following the firm's latest quarterly report. DJ30 +25.46 NASDAQ +12.12 SP500 +6.21 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1262/980 mln/1238 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1701/425 mln/1165

12:30 pm : Shares of airlines have ascended to a 1.1% gain, which makes for the group's fourth advance in five sessions. During that time the Amex Airline Index has climbed 4.7%. In contrast, the S&P 500 is actually down 1.5% this week.

Strength among airline stocks is largely underpinned by the pullback in oil prices, which had started the week near $107 per barrel, but are now a bit below $101 per barrel as the flow of headlines related to social unrest and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa slow. DJ30 +41.45 NASDAQ +12.12 SP500 +7.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1196/875 mln/1285 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1587/388 mln/1248

12:00 pm : Stocks have broken free from their recent trading range so that they now sit at fresh session highs. There hasn't been any headline to account for the move, but energy stocks and materials stocks continue to provide the most leadership -- both sectors are now up 1.7%.

Volatility has fallen amid the stock market's latest leg higher. In turn, the Volatility Index is now down more than 7%.

Outside of equities, silver prices have made a strong push over the past hour or so. The precious metal is now up 1.0% to $35.43 per ounce after it had been down more than 1% this morning.

A pullback by the greenback has helped provide support for precious metals prices. The dollar had up with a narrow gain in the early going, but it is now down to a session low with a 0.5% loss. DJ30 +17.21 NASDAQ +7.65 SP500 +5.44 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1054/775 mln/1409 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1428/340 mln/1392

11:30 am : The stock market remains stuck in a sideways chop that has made for a rather lackluster session. However, natural resource plays like energy stocks and materials stocks have attracted strong support. Those two sectors are up 1.2% and 0.9%, respectively.

Semiconductor stocks have also garnered support after a few precipitous drops during the course of the past several sessions. Semiconductor stocks headed into this session with a weekly loss of almost 8%, but are currently up 0.6% today.

Among semiconductor issues, National Semiconductor (NSM 14.54, +0.38) is a strong performer. The company posted in-line earnings last evening, but was actually a bit light on its revenue. DJ30 -23.99 NASDAQ -1.15 SP500 +1.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 809/656 mln/1625 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1139/297 mln/1669

11:00 am : Although the broader market is mired near the neutral line and oil prices remain near $100 per barrel, energy stocks are staging a strong rebound from their sharp loss in the prior session. Yesterday the energy sector plummeted to a 3.6% loss, but today it is up 1.2%, which is more than double the next best performing sector (materials, +0.5%).

Energy stocks are currently led by refiners, which are collectively up 3.9%. Even though they sport an enviable gain of 0.8%, integrated oil and gas plays like Exxon Mobil (XOM 82.02, +0.64) are actually lagging the rest of the energy sector. DJ30 -14.08 NASDAQ -4.71 SP500 +1.34 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 775/544 mln/1625 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1030/247 mln/1653

10:30 am : The prior session saw a concerted, broad-based sell-off as traders turned their attention to macro-related headlines. They remain on the defensive following news of a massive earthquake in Japan.

Soured sentiment has taken oil prices down to a 2.0% loss at $100.65 per barrel. Oil prices are now down about 7% from the two-year high that they set earlier this week. Prices had actually been as low as $99 per barrel in early electronic trade as a knee-jerk selling effort followed news of the earthquake and numerous tsunami warnings.

Natural gas prices have pushed higher, however. The energy component was last quoted with a 2.4% gain at $3.92 per MMBtu.

Despite the defensive posture of many market participants, gold has only gained fractionally. It was last quoted with a 0.1% gain at $1413.90 per ounce. As for silver, prices are down 1.5% to $34.54 per ounce.

General weakness among commodities has the CRB Commodity Index down another 1.1% today. That comes after it had slumped 1.6% in the prior session. The CRB is now on pace for its worst back-to-back performance since November. DJ30 -31.22 NASDAQ -6.03 SP500 -0.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 787/365 mln/1547 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 887/180 mln/1814

10:00 am : Stocks had started to make a nice upward push at the open, but the major equity averages reversed course with the release of the preliminary Consumer Sentiment Survey for March from the University of Michigan. The Survey, which came in at 68.2, marked the worst reading in five months and was well short of the Briefing.com consensus call for 76.5.

January business inventories were just posted. They showed a 0.9% increase, which is slightly stronger than the 0.8% increase that had been broadly expected. Inventories for the prior month were revised upward to reflect a 1.1% increase. DJ30 -15.44 NASDAQ -2.50 SP500 +0.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1156/183 mln/1080 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1379/107 mln/1217

09:45 am : Stocks made a nice upward push at the open, but the major equity averages are still stuck near the neutral line.

After they led losses in the prior session, energy stocks are showing early leadership today. The sector's 0.5% gain comes in the face of a drop in oil prices back toward $100 per barrel. Oil prices had actually moved back below to $99 per barrel in early morning electronic trade, but they are now at $100.40 per barrel with a 2.2% loss.

Defensive-oritented telecom and consumer staples stocks are at the other end of things. The two sectors are both down 0.5%. DJ30 +0.90 NASDAQ +4.83 SP500 +2.56

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -10.50. Stock futures suggest that a lower start is in order, but even though the suggested move lower would be modest, it is expected to be enough to position the stock market at a new monthly low. The downward bias comes in response to widespread weakness overseas, where markets have sold off in response to a massive earthquake in Japan and, subsequently, numerous tsunami warnings. Selling pressure has extended to crude oil prices, which are down 2.8% to $99.80 per barrel in early pit trade -- it has been more than a week since oil prices were last below $100 per barrel. However, the downturn in oil prices has been shrugged off by most morning participants, just as it was in the prior session. In-line increases in retail sales figures for February have also been widely disregarded. Still on the calendar, though, are the preliminary consumer sentiment survey for March from the University of Michigan (9:55 AM ET) and business inventory data for January (10:00 AM ET).

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -8.70. Futures for the S&P 500 continue to chop along in negative territory. Overseas markets remain mired in the red following a sell-off in Asia that was spurred by a massive earthquake in Japan that has led to numerous tsunami warnings. Germany's DAX is down 0.9% amid widespread weakness. Among its 30 members, only E.On, RWE AG, and Merck KGAA have managed to muster any kind of a gain. Muenchener Rue and Allianz (AZ) have been the heaviest drags. France's CAC has fallen to a 0.6% loss. Pressure there has also been broad based, but energy giant Total (TOT) has been one of the heaviest drags on trade as the price of oil continues to pull back. Oil prices are now down about 7% from the two-year high of almost $107 per barrel that was set earlier this week. Meanwhile, shares of TOT have fallen in all five of this week's sessions for a cumulative loss of more than 4%; they now trade at their lowest level in more than one month. Financial outfits Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole have provided some broad market support in the latest round of trade. Britain's FTSE is currently off by only 0.3%. Rio Tinto (RIO) and Anglo American have been primary sources of support. Tullow Oil has complemented their efforts, but BP Plc (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) have been imbued by the pullback in oil prices.

Action in Asia was highlighted by late selling that came in response to a massive earthquake in Japan. The Nikkei dove more than 100 points in the final 15 minutes of trade to close at a session low with a 1.7% loss. More than 90% of the names in the Nikkei fell to losses, but Sumco Corp, IHI Corp, CSK Corp, OKI Electric, and Fujitsu LTD all fell 4% or more to finish as the session's worst performers. KDDI Corp, Daikin, Shimizu, and Kajima were among the few that successfully finished trade with a gain. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite surrendered a gain to close with a 0.8% loss. Heavyweights Industrial & Commercial Bank and PetroChina (PTR) led the downward push. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid to a 1.6% loss amid widespread weakness. Financials HSBC (HBC), Industrial & Commercial Bank, and China Construction Bank weighed most heavily on trade. Energy giant CNOOC (CEO) also dragged down broader trade. Cathay Pacific and Cosco Pacific were the only two names in the 45-member index to stage any kind of a gain.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.80. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.20. Stock futures continue to trail fair value by a modest margin as premarket participants shrug off the latest retail sales data. Advance retail sales for February showed a 1.00% increase, which is spot on with the Briefing.com consensus call. Retail sales for January were revised upward to reflect a 0.7% increase. Excluding autos, retail sales increased by 0.7%, which is narrowly better than the 0.6% increase that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. Prior month sales less autos were revised higher to reflect a 0.6% increase. Still on the calendar are the preliminary consumer sentiment survey for March from the University of Michigan (9:55 AM ET) and January business inventory data (10:00 AM ET).

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.70. Stiff selling in the prior session caused the S&P 500 to close below its 50-day moving average for the first time in six months, but the one-month intraday low of 1294 that was set two weeks ago remained intact. Stock futures have actually fallen below that key point of interest as premarket participants react to sell-offs in Asia and Europe after a massive earthquake hit Japan and prompted numerous tsunami alerts. Stock futures have since trimmed their losses, but continue to point to a weak start. Oil prices have also been pushed lower so that the energy component trades with a 2.5% loss at $100.15 per barrel ahead of pit trade. As was the case in the prior session, oil's retreat has been of secondary concern. With participants on the defensive and stock futures pointing toward an opening slip, the stock market is headed for a weekly loss on the order of 2%. Semiconductor stocks have been especially weak over the last few sessions; they are down 7.8% week to date. National Semiconductor (NSM), which reported last evening in-line earnings and a light revenue figure, has only seen mild selling ahead of the open, though. In other corporate news, apparel retailer Aeropostale (ARO) exceeded the consensus earnings estimate for the latest quarter, but issued downside guidance; its shares have been quoted more than 7% lower in premarket trade. Advance retail sales figures for February take the first slot on today's agenda of economic releases. The report is due at 8:30 AM ET. The preliminary consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan for March follows at 9:55 AM ET. Business inventory data for January will be posted at 10:00 AM ET.

07:05 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -6.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -16.50.






4:58PM Insulet files for $150 mln mixed shelf offering (PODD) 17.77 +0.11 :

4:48PM Oil-Dri Board of Directors authorizes additional 250K shares of common stock repurchases (ODC) 19.47 -0.48 :

4:36PM Fushi Copperweld issued upside prelim Q4 revs; downside FY11 EPS guidance; delays 10-K (FSIN) 9.42 -0.02 : Co issues upside guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees Q4 (Dec) revs of $69.9 mln vs. $67.11 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY11 (Dec), sees EPS of $1.15-1.25 vs. $1.43 Thomson Reuters consensus. "Looking ahead, we are excited by our prospects for 2011. With an improving macroeconomic environment, stronger production coming from Fayetteville, added capacity in Dalian to serve the broader Asian market opportunity, a solid initial response to our CCS product offering in China, and increasing global demand for our products serving the utilities industry, we believe we are well positioned to prosper and grow. As a result, we expect our utilization, volumes, and operating profit will continue to improve in 2011 and beyond." The Company also announced that it is currently reevaluating the application of generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in certain accounting treatments applied to its 2007, 2008, and 2009 financial results as well as its previously filed quarterly financial statements for the first three quarters of 2010. These accounting treatments are related to the ability to realize deferred income tax assets, qualification of cash flow hedge for cross-currency interest swap, and bargain purchase gains recognized in 2010 acquisitions. As a result of the additional time needed to study these items, the Company expects to file a Notification of Late Filing under Rule 12b-25 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with the SEC for an extension of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.

4:16PM Gilead Sciences recommends rejection of mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Corporation (GILD) 40.83 -0.15 : Co has been notified of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by TRC Capital Corporation to purchase up to 3 million shares, or approximately 0.37%, of the outstanding Gilead common stock at a price of $37.25 per share. TRC's offer price represents approximately a 4.56% discount to the $39.03 closing price of Gilead common stock on March 2, 2011, the last closing price prior to commencement of the offer. In addition, TRC's offer is subject to numerous conditions, including the availability of financing under a credit facility satisfactory to TRC. Gilead does not endorse TRC's offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to the offer because it is a mini-tender offer at a price below the current market price for Gilead shares and is subject to numerous conditions.

4:11PM Peoples Bancorp names Chuck Sulerzyski President and Chief Executive Officer (PEBO) 12.27 +0.11 : Co announced the hiring of Charles W. "Chuck" Sulerzyski to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. He will succeed David L. Mead, who has served in these capacities on an interim basis since August 2010. Chuck will join Peoples effective April 4, 2011. Sulerzyski has been a financial services executive for over 30 years, most recently as Regional President of the Great Lakes Region for KeyBank, N.A, a national bank located in Cleveland, Ohio.

4:09PM comScore releases February 2011 U.S. search engine rankings; GOOG Sites led with 65.4% (GOOG) 576.71 -3.59 : GOOG Sites led the U.S. explicit core search market in February with 65.4 percent market share (-0.2% m/m), followed by YHOO Sites with 16.1 percent (even m/m) and MSFT sites with 13.6 percent (up 0.5%). Ask Network (IACI) accounted for 3.2 percent of explicit core searches (-0.2% m/m), followed by AOL with 1.7 percent (even m/m).

4:06PM ULURU reports that it has received notice from NYSE Amex advising co that it is not in compliance with a certain condition of the Exchange's continued listing standards (ULU) 0.09 0.00 : In a letter to co, the Exchange stated that it is concerned that co's common stock, as a result of its low selling price, may not be suitable for auction market trading.

4:05PM EW Scripps and Raycom announce shared services agreement in West Palm Beach (SSP) 9.08 +0.05 : Co and Raycom Media, Inc. have entered into a shared services agreement involving WPTV, the Scripps-owned NBC affiliate in West Palm Beach, Fla., and WFLX, the market's Raycom-owned Fox affiliate. Under the terms of the agreement, Raycom has contracted with Scripps to provide services involving technical, promotional and online operations and certain local programming for WFLX under Raycom's direction as licensee. Raycom will continue to program the station and conduct all advertising sales.

4:01PM Edwards Lifesciences acquires Embrella Cardiovascular for ~$43 million cash; co reaffirms guidance (EW) 89.32 +1.08 : Co announces that it has completed the acquisition of Embrella Cardiovascular, the developer of the Embrella Embolic Deflector System, which can be used during transcatheter heart valve procedures. The purchase price was ~$43 million cash, and the transaction closed today. Additionally, the company is maintaining its earnings guidance for the year. Note: Co previously guided Q1 EPS in the range of $0.40-0.42 vs $0.42 Thomson Reuters consensus.

3:44PM Honeywell resolves Federal investigation into permitting and storage issues at its Metropolis facility (HON) 56.42 +0.62 : As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the company will pay a total of $12 mln in fines and supplemental environmental projects to resolve the matter, which involved the storage of a regulated material without a proper permit. The company self-reported the incident. No one was injured as a result of exposure to the regulated material, and there was no environmental impact. Co separately settled a parallel civil investigation with the State of Illinois and paid a fine of $690K.

3:32PM Stock indices hovering near another new fresh session high -- Dow +100, S&P +13, Nasdaq Comp +23 (SPY) :

3:09PM Market averages continue afternoon extension -- Dow +77, S&P +11.2, Nasdaq Comp +18 (SPY) : Relative sector strength in recent trade has been noted in Networking IGN, Energy XLE, Commodity Index, Industrial XLI, Rail. The S&P has reached intraday resistance noted earlier at 1305/1306 (session high 1306).

2:57PM Spartan Motors receives a multi-year, international contract to build and deliver custom, high-performance fire apparatus for use by several fire departments throughout the country of Chile (SPAR) 6.39 -0.04 :

2:56PM Baidu.com sets new session high of 123.47, eyeing last week's peak/its three week range top/Feb gap bottom at 123.58/123.74 (BIDU) 123.40 +2.53 :

2:43PM Agilent reports operations in Japan remain unaffected by earthquake (A) 44.92 +0.04 :

2:22PM Stock indices lift after lunchtime dip to intraday support noted earlier (SPY) : The Dow +48 and S&P +8.5 have notched minor new session highs with the Nasdaq Comp +13 hovering slightly under its midday high.

2:00PM Kohlberg Capital announces pricing of private offering of $55 mln of 8.75% convertible senior notes due 2016 (KCAP) 7.74 +0.07 : Co announces the pricing of $55 mln in aggregate principal amount of its unsecured 8.75% Convertible Senior Notes Due 2016. The Notes will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers. The Notes will be convertible into shares of co's common stock based on an initial conversion rate of 118.5255 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of ~$8.44 per share of common stock. (stock is halted)

1:58PM Kohlberg Capital halted, news pending (KCAP) 7.78 +0.11 :

1:40PM Star Scientific confirms that it has received two notices and letters from the PTO confirming the validity of each of the claims involved in the reexamination of the '649 and '401 patents (CIGX) 2.70 +0.33 : Co confirms that its patent counsel, Banner & Witcoff, has received two notices and letters from the United States Patent & Trademark Office confirming the validity of each of the claims involved in the reexamination of the '649 and '401 patents. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company (RAI) filed requests for reexamination of these patents with the PTO in January, 2009. The notices confirmed patentability of all claims involved in the reexaminations, rejecting each of the prior art challenges raised by the requester. The USPTO made other specific findings, including a determination that the claims are entitled to the earlier filing date of its provisional patent applications. The issuance of these decisions terminates the reexamination process, and since the requests were filed on an "ex parte" basis, they cannot be appealed by RJR. (See our 12:54 comment)

1:36PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) : April gold ended higher by $9.30 to $1421.80, May silver rallied for 98.8 cents to finish at $36.005, while May copper finished up a penny to $4.2075.

1:23PM Harsco's metal group renews two key mexican contracts valued at more than $225 million (HSC) 32.90 -0.22 : Co announces that its Harsco Metals group has been awarded two key multi-year contract renewals from one of Mexico's major steelmakers totaling more than $225 million in projected revenues. The contracts, each close to ten years in duration and reflecting new and expanded commercial terms, extend co's strong relationships with steelmaker Ternium Mexico at Ternium's two Monterrey operations, Guerrero and Apodaca.

1:21PM Stock indices slip back off midday highs -- Dow +11, S&P +3.7, Nasdaq Comp +4 (SPY) : Noted in the 12:54 update the S&P had tested and paused near 1302/1303 resistance (session high 1303). Some backing and filling has been noted in recent action bring an intraday support mentioned in the earlier update at 1298/1297 into play (recently hit 1298.71).

1:18PM Crude pulls back ~50 cents; now down $2.09 to $100.61 (COMDX) :

1:11PM AMB Property provides preliminary update on its Japan properties; Initial assessment confirms colleagues are safe and that damage to properties is minor (AMB) 34.77 +0.10 : Co announces that it is currently assessing all of its properties for any damages resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Initial assessment confirms our colleagues are safe and that damage to our properties is minor. Co is working to confirm the extent of damage to our 420,000 SF facility in Sendai and will do so as soon as it is safe to travel to that region.

1:09PM EastGroup announces the signing of an application for a $65 million mortgage loan (EGP) 43.04 -0.03 : The note has a fixed interest rate of 4.75%, a 10-year term, a 20-year amortization schedule and is secured by properties containing 1.9 million square feet. The Company plans to use the proceeds to pay down its variable rate bank borrowings. As previously reported, the Company has a mortgage loan with an interest rate of 7.92% that will mature in May 2011 with a balloon payment of $22.8 million.

12:56PM Amgen aggressive gains today with it vacillating slightly under its morning high and 50 day ema at 53.82/53.84 (AMGN) 53.75 +1.91 :

12:54PM S&P +6.5 pauses at intraday resistance (SPY) : Noted in the 12:10 update that the S&P was facing a short term resistance at 1302/1303 which marked last week's low and the early week low (Monday). It reached 1303 at 12:20 and paused for lunch. Intraday support is at 1298/1297 with a continued posture above leaving the door open to a follow through attempt. Minor resistance above is near 1305/1306 with a more important zone thereafter near 1311/1312.

12:51PM Northrop Grumman and Boeing (BA) submit proposal for missile defense agency simulation architecture proposal (NOC) 66.19 -0.12 : Co's submitted a joint proposal for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency Objective Simulation Framework (OSF) program. OSF, which will integrate the MDA's modeling and simulation architectures for the Ballistic Missile Defense System, is expected to be awarded in July 2011 as an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with an estimated program value of $595 mln over five years.

12:37PM April WTI crude ticking lower; now down $1.92 to $100.78 (COMDX) :

12:35PM Investment Tech and Liquidnet announce settlement of patent litigation (ITG) 18.13 -0.37 : The cos announced an agreement to settle all ongoing patent litigation between the companies. Under the terms of the agreement, which is effective today, the two companies have agreed to dismiss all claims in their respective lawsuits and cross-license each other under the relevant patents in each suit. Cos also announced a new commercial agreement covering the blotter sweeping integrations between ITG's Triton? and Macgregor XIP products and Liquidnet's alternative trading system that will run through August 2014. Other terms of the settlement and the commercial agreement between ITG and Liquidnet were not disclosed and will remain confidential.

12:33PM Liz Claiborne responds to S&P rating change (LIZ) 5.44 -0.01 : Co stated "S&P chose to issue a temporary technical downgrade when other leading rating agencies did not. S&P's downgrade is not a corporate rating downgrade in the traditional sense, but rather a required short-term technical action pertaining to the specific terms and conditions of our tender offer refinancing. Based upon past precedent, we anticipate that S&P is likely to restore our B- rating once we complete the cash tender offer for our Euro notes, which is scheduled to expire on April 5, 2011... The tender offer announced this week is expected to be followed by a new debt financing, and we anticipate that these actions will improve our capital structure and extend the weighted average maturity of our debt. Our liquidity remains solid and Liz Claiborne Inc. will continue to do business as usual."

12:29PM Ditech promotes Ken Naumann to the role of President; Todd Simpson will leave his role as CEO effective 3/15 (DITC) 1.28 -0.14 : Effective March 15th, 2011, Todd Simpson will leave his role as CEO and officer of Ditech Networks, although Dr. Simpson will remain as a member of the Board.

12:23PM Currency Chart Watch (UUP) : Dollar Index bounce stalls at Jan/Feb trendline (Click for chart). Euro/Yen continuous futures pressured but holds once again at 50 day ema (Click for chart).

12:05PM Crude oil continues to chip away at losses, moving back above $101 level; now down $1.55 to $101.15 (COMDX) :

12:01PM S&P +6.3 reaches back to congestion/50 day sma at 1300/1301 (SPY) : Last week's low and the early week low are just above at 1302/1303.

12:00PM Gold, silver continue to push higher with both metals trading to new highs; move coincides with new lows in dollar index (COMDX) :

* April gold now up $9.10 to $1421.60.
* May silver now up 73.4 cents to $35.80.

11:47AM Ameron Int'l: The Barington Group sent a letter today to the stockholders of co (AMN) 71.34 +1.55 : The letter was sent in response to co's recent attacks on the qualifications and reputation of the Barington Group's nominee to the Company's Board, James A. Mitarotonda. Barington addresses a number of the allegations made in co's recent letter and urges stockholders to vote the WHITE proxy card as it believes that co has been underperforming its value potential.

11:46AM Dow +16 and Nasdaq Comp 6.5 join S&P +5.7 at minor new session highs (SPY) : Sector relative strength (outperforming the S&P) has been noted in Oil Service OIH, Energy XLE, Software IGV, Materials XLB, Ag/Chem MOO, Transports IYT, Rail, Silver SLV, Casino BJK.

11:46AM Silver trades to its best levels of the day; now up 35.4 cents to $35.42 (COMDX) :

11:39AM Minor new session high S&P +3.3, Nasdaq Comp +2.1 and Dow -3 working back toward early peaks (SPY) : Break of intraday trendlines (11:24 update) has led to some upside follow.

11:27AM Hawkins Chemical, Inc. announces John R. Hawkins, CEO, passed away (HWKN) 36.40 +0.05 : The Company previously announced that Hawkins was diagnosed with liver cancer and later announced that he was receiving hospice care.

11:24AM Stock indices lift up toward intraday trendlines -- Dow -26, S&P +1, Nasdaq Comp -2.4 (SPY) :

11:17AM Clayton Williams announced the pricing of its private placement of $300 mln aggregate principal amount of 7.75% Senior Notes due 2019 (CWEI) 89.02 +1.63 : Co announced the pricing of its private placement of $300 million aggregate principal amount of 7.75% Senior Notes due 2019. The notes were sold at 100% of par to yield 7.75% to maturity. The offering is expected to close on March 16, 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. CWEI intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repurchase its outstanding 73/4% Senior Notes due 2013 pursuant to its previously announced tender offer, and to repay borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

11:17AM Atwood Oceanics announces that Mr. George S. Dotson was appointed non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors effective March 10, 2011 (ATW) 43.24 +0.91 :

11:01AM Crawford acquires the assets of ClaimHub, a provider of claims workflow solutions for the property and casualty insurance market (CRD.A) 2.91 +0.05 :

11:00AM Lennox Intl Board voted to increase the quarterly cash dividend 20%, from $0.15 per share of common stock to $0.18 per share of common stock (LII) 51.18 +0.05 :

10:58AM Apple for second day in a row has held at its 50 sma, currently edging back toward today/yesterday highs at 349.27/349.77 (AAPL) 348.84 +2.17 :

10:31AM Medifast requires additional time to complete its year-end financial statements due to additional time needed for the Company to review the recognition of certain expenses in prior periods (MED) 20.83 -1.07 : Co announced that it required additional time to complete its year-end financial statements. The delay in releasing results is due to additional time needed for the Company to review the recognition of certain expenses in prior periods, and therefore, complete its consolidated financial statements for fiscal 2010 and its Annual Report on Form 10-K.

10:28AM New session highs for Energy -- XLE, OIH, XES, XOP, IEO with continued relative strength in Refiners ALJ, WNR, TSO, VLO, FTO, HOC, MRO, SUN (XLE) :

10:23AM April WTI crude oil trades to its best levels of pit trade; now off $1.95 to $100.75 (COMDX) :

10:16AM First level supports for S&P -1.9 and Nasdaq Comp -8.3 still holding (SPY) : Thus far the first level supports noted in The Technical Take at 2695/2686 Nasdaq Comp (session low 2689) and 1292/1291 S&P (session low 1291) have held but they have been probed again in recent trade. Second level supports if a break is seen are at 2676/2663 and 1289/1287, respectively.

10:14AM China MediaExpress halted, news pending (CCME) 11.88 -0.53 :

10:12AM DuPont attempting to stabilize near its 50 sma at 51.87 -- session low 51.82 (DD) 51.98 -0.61 : Noted the Dow Chem (DOW) test earlier and it is still holding slightly above its 50 ema.

10:09AM Sector Watch (TECHX) : Losing momentum among sectors that bounced (Coal KOL and Finance XLF hit range floors off the open), Semi SMH, Steel SLX.

10:06AM New low for Dow -40, S&P -2.2 and Nasdaq Comp -8.8 still hovering slightly above (SPY) :

10:06AM Tesoro is monitoring operations as the result of tsunami wave activity from the earthquake in Japan; Initial reports are that there has been no impact (TSO) 23.69 +1.09 : Co is monitoring activities at its subsidiaries' operations as the result of tsunami wave activity from the earthquake in Japan. Initial reports are that there has been no impact to our refining operations in Hawaii and Alaska. A few retail stations in low lying areas of Hawaii have been closed and employees evacuated as a precaution. Those stations will reopen once deemed safe following a safety assessment.

10:01AM Dow Chemical notches new session low of 36.28 to test its 50 sma/ema at36.37/36.21 (DOW) 36.31 -0.51 :

9:56AM Stock indices see pressure develop after weaker sentiment with Dow -33 setting a new low -- S&P -0.6 and Nasdaq Comp -3.7 did not confirm new lows (SPY) :

9:54AM Stock indices mixed amid limited ranges ahead of sentiment data -- Dow -16, S&P +0.7, Nasdaq Comp -2 (SPY) : We have seen the follow through pressure/knee jerk reaction to overseas developments off the open and a quick snap back in energy, semi, construction sectors helping to lift the stock indices. Currently waiting for the Michigan Sentiment report.

9:44AM Opening Point Gainers/Losers (TECHX) : Point Gainers: NFLX (+4.80), PLL (+3.73), NDN (+3.20), ANN (+3.26), WLT (+1.58), SINA (+2.33), RCRC (+2.68), CF (+1.74), ULTA (+2.33), AAPL (+2.10), X (+1.96), APA (+1.90)

Point Losers: AGQ (-7.48), GMCR (-2.32), ARO (-1.90), UCO (-1.88), TM (-1.58), ZUMZ (-1.55), HANS (-1.15), NKE (-1.63), EBS (-1.48), PALL (-1.20), TDSC (-1.49), AFL (-1.13)

9:42AM Stock indices climb back near unchanged after limited opening pressure -- Dow -6, S&P +2, Nasdaq Comp +4 (SPY) :

9:40AM Steel sector displaying relative strength (SLX) : STLD +3.7% held at its Jan lows yesterday and this morning its reaching up toward its 50 sma and this wk/range highs (18.59/18.64), ATI, CLF, SID, GGB, NUE, PKX, RS, VALE, TX, X.

9:33AM Sector Watch (TECHX) : Transports IYT, Semi SMH, Retail XRT, Health XLV bounce into positive territory.

9:31AM LML Payment Systems settles litigation with PayPal; PayPal agreed to pay $7.5 mln in connection with the agreement (LMLP) 4.90 -0.19 :

9:31AM Market Vectors Coal ETF tests three week range low at 45.16 -- session low 45.17 (KOL) 45.25 -0.19 : ANR, ACI, CNX, JOYG, BTU, WLT, BUCY, MEE.

9:27AM Geoglobal Resources signs operating agreement in Israel (GGR) 0.67 : Co announces the International Operating Agreement relating to the offshore Israel license known as 388 "Samuel" has been executed. The Samuel license covers an area of approximately 361 square kilometers and is located in the Levantine Basin.

9:25AM Celadon Group Chairman and CEO adopts 10b5-1 trading plan (CGI) 14.93 : Co announces that Stephen Russell, Celadon's Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, adopted a written sales plan in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 for trading ~15% of the shares of Celadon's common stock owned by Russell.

9:24AM Carnival sees Q1 EPS $0.01 ahead of consensus; lowers FY11 EPS below consensus due to increased fuel costs, mid-east itinerary changes (CCL) 40.45 : Co sees Q1 EPS of $0.19 vs. the $0.18 consensus and the $0.15-0.19 guidance. Co also lowers FY11 EPS to $2.50-2.60 from $2.90-3.10 vs. the $2.94 consensus. Since its 2011 full year guidance was provided on December 21, 2010, fuel prices have significantly increased. At current spot prices for fuel and currency exchange rates, full year 2011 earnings per share would be lower by approximately $0.40. In addition, the co estimates the impact of itinerary changes in the Middle East and North Africa will result in an approximate $0.05 reduction in earnings per share for the remainder of the year.

9:21AM Sirona Dental Systems prices secondary offering of 4.5 mln shares of common stock by Sirona Holdings Luxco and 300K shares by Jeffrey Slovin at $48.85 per share (SIRO) 50.34 :

9:21AM Threshold Pharma announces registered direct offering of $30 million (THLD) 2.04 : Co will issue an aggregate of 14,313,081 shares of common stock to investors together with warrants to purchase an additional 5,725,227 shares of common stock. Each unit, consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.4 of a share of common stock, will be sold at a purchase price of $2.10, which is equal to the consolidated closing bid price of $2.05 for the common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market on March 10, 2011, plus $0.05. The warrants will have a five year term and an exercise price equal to $2.46 per share.

9:20AM Star Bulk Carriers announces that co received a letter from Korea Line Corporation announcing the termination of the charterparty, effective immediately (SBLK) 2.44 : No hire has been received since the Company's public announcement on February 22, 2011 informing shareholders that KLC had commenced rehabilitation proceedings in Korea. Following the termination, the Company immediately entered into a time charter contract with STX Pan Ocean for the vessel for a period of 4-6 months , at a gross daily rate of $17,000.

9:15AM Two Harbors Investment prices 25 mln shares of its common stock at an offering price of $10.25 per share (TWO) 10.67 : Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to make additional acquisitions of residential mortgage-backed securities and other financial assets, and for other general corporate purposes.

9:13AM DIRECTV commences fixed price cash tender offer for 6 3/8% senior notes due 2015 (DTV) 45.60 : Co announces it has commenced a fixed price cash tender offer for any and all of its outstanding $1.0 billion in aggregate principal amount of its 6 3/8% Senior Notes due 2015. The consideration for the Notes tendered and accepted for payment pursuant to the offer is $1,033.13 per $1,000 principal amount of the Notes.

9:07AM Education Mgmt increased the size of its stock repurchase program from $150.0 mln to $250.0 mln (EDMC) 18.89 : Co increased the size of its stock repurchase program from $150-250 mln. Co announced the stock repurchase program on June 11, 2010 and has repurchased 8.5 mln shares at a cost of $125.8 mln through March 9, 2011. The program will terminate on December 31, 2011.

9:07AM Universal Technical Institute and CheckMark Vehicle Safety Services announce plans to provide technical training for 300 potential CheckMark inspectors at UTI campuses across the United States (UTI) 17.43 :

9:04AM NGP Capital Resources misses by $0.02, misses on revs (NGPC) 9.69 : Reports Q4 (Dec) net investment income of $0.15 per share, $0.02 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.17; revenues rose 38.1% year/year to $6.1 mln vs the $6.5 mln consensus. Overall, the co had a net increase in stockholders' equity (net assets) resulting from operations of $1.5 million, or an increase of $0.07 per share for the three months ended December 31, 2010 and declared dividends during the period of $0.18 per share, resulting in stockholders' equity (net assets) per share of $10.90 as of December 31, 2010.

9:03AM GlaxoSmithKline and Tolerx announce that the Phase 3 DEFEND-1 study of otelixizumab did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of change in C-peptide at month 12 in patients with new-onset autoimmune type 1 diabetes (GSK) 38.42 : Tolerx and GSK announced that the Phase 3 DEFEND-1 study of otelixizumab, an investigational humanized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of change in C-peptide at month 12 in patients with new-onset autoimmune type 1 diabetes. Following preliminary review of the data, no new or unexpected treatment-related safety concerns have emerged during the DEFEND-1 study. Study investigators and regulatory agencies have been notified of the DEFEND-1 study outcome. GSK will continue to explore additional dosing regimens to inform decisions about the future clinical development programme for otelixizumab. New recruitment and dosing in the DEFEND-2 study, the ongoing confirmatory Phase 3 study with a design similar to DEFEND-1, has been suspended pending review of the DEFEND-1 results.

9:02AM SXC Health Solutions appoints Mark Thierer as Chairman of the Board (SXCI) 50.46 : Co announced that Mark Thierer, SXC's President and CEO, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Company. Mr. Thierer was previously a director at SXC and replaces Terrence Burke, who will remain a director until his retirement later in 2011.

9:01AM V.F. Corp outlines strategy to add $5 bln in revenue growth and $5 in earnings per share by 2015 (VFC) 96.93 : Co announces new 5-year financial targets at its investor meeting articulating the co's plans to reach its 2015 goals of adding $5 bln in revenues and $5 in earnings per share growth from 2010 levels. Co states its goal is to reach $12.7 bln in revenues by 2015. Key components of the $5 bln in expected revenue growth include: 1) $3 billion from Outdoor & Action Sports, where revs have grown on average by 17% over the past five years. By 2015, Outdoor & Action Sports should account for at least half of co's total revenues. 2) $1 bln from growth in Jeanswear through the Wrangler and Lee brands, led by expansion in international markets such as Asia, Europe and Latin America. 3) $1 bln from higher revenues across Sportswear, Imagewear and Contemporary Brands, combined, over the next five years. Co states higher growth in these highly profitable businesses will fuel expansion in both gross margins and operating margins over the next five years. By 2015 operating margins are expected to rise to 15% from 13.3% in 2010.

9:01AM IberiaBank Announces acquisition of Cameron Bancshares; expected to close in the second quarter of 2011 (IBKC) 55.64 : Co and Cameron Bancshares the holding company of Lake Charles, Louisiana-based Cameron State Bank announce the signing of a definitive agreement for co to acquire Cameron in a stock-for-stock exchange. The transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors of each company and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011. Roy M. Raftery, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Cameron, will be named Chairman of the Lake Charles region for IBERIABANK after the acquisition is consummated.

8:57AM CONSOL Energy redeems 7.875% notes due 2012 (CNX) 47.82 : Co announces that it will redeem all of its outstanding 7.875% Notes due March 1, 2012 in accordance with the terms of the indenture governing the Notes. The net proceeds from the recent notes offering of $250 million of 6.375% senior notes due 2021 will be the principal source of funding for the redemption.

8:55AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Camelot Information Systems (CIS) announced that it is in the process of renewing its contract with IBM (IBM) for the delivery center developed by Camelot focused on enterprise application software and services. Operations at the delivery center are not affected by the contract renewal process, which is expected to be finalized within weeks.
* Itron (ITRI) announced that it has delivered 100,000 residential gas meters, 8,500 commercial meters and two test benches to Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, the state-owned petroleum and gas company in Bolivia.

8:55AM SS&C Techs acquires BenefitsXML; no terms were disclosed (SSNC) 18.67 : Co announces it has acquired BenefitsXML, a provider of enterprise software solutions for employee benefit service providers. No financial terms were disclosed.

8:55AM BioDelivery Services Correction: Co received definitive commitments for a private placement financing yielding gross proceeds of $15 mln; co will sell 4.81 mln shares of its common stock at a price of $3.12 per share (BDSI) 3.34 : Co announced it has received definitive commitments from institutional investors for a private placement financing yielding gross proceeds of $15 mln to BDSI. Under the terms of a securities purchase agreement entered into with the investors, co will sell an aggregate of 4,807,693 shares of its common stock at a price equal to $3.12 per share, representing a 10% discount to an agreed upon volume weighted average price of BDSI's stock. Our 6:32 comment, which reported $15 bln in proceeds, has been has been deleted.

8:51AM IDEX Corp expires subsequent offering period and final completion of tender offer for shares of Microfluidics International (MFLU) (IEX) 41.11 : Co announces the expiration of the subsequent offering period of the tender offer by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nano Merger Sub for all outstanding shares of common stock of Microfluidics International (MFLU) at a price of $1.35 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest but subject to any applicable tax withholding.

8:41AM Corning: No damage was sustained to any Corning facility as a result of the earthquake (GLW) 21.32 : No Corning employees were injured at any of their Japan facilities. All glass-melting, forming, and finishing operations are running normally at both plants in Japan (Shizuoka and Sakai City). There is NO impact to their supply as a result of the earthquake. No damage was sustained to any Corning facility as a result of the earthquake.

8:31AM CPEX Pharmaceuticals announces that ISS Proxy Advisory recommends that CPEX stockholders vote "FOR" CPEX's proposed merger agreement with FCB I Holdings, under which CPEX stockholders will receive $27.25 per share in cash (CPEX) 27.17 :

8:31AM 99 Cents Only announces receipt of a 'Going Private' proposal at $19.09 Per Share (NDN) 16.68 : Co announces d that its board of directors has received a proposal from members of the Schiffer/Gold family, together with Leonard Green & Partners, to acquire the co in a "going private" transaction for $19.09 per share in cash. The Schiffer/Gold family owns ~33% of the co's outstanding common stock, and the letter states that they are prepared to contribute a substantial portion of their existing co stock ownership as part of the proposed transaction. The board of directors cautions the Company's shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that it has only received the proposal and it has not yet been evaluated. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.

8:21AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Indiana Michigan Power's Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 1 will power down late today in preparation for a planned maintenance outage that will take the unit off-line beginning early March 12. The primary purpose of the outage is to repair the main generator hydrogen seal system. Indiana Michigan Power is a unit of American Electric Power (AEP).
* Metals USA Holdings Corp. (MUSA) announced that it has closed the acquisition of The Richardson Trident Company. With sales for the twelve months ending December 31, 2010 at ~$148 million on 23,000 shipped tons, Trident is also the largest company acquired by Metals USA so far. With the addition of Trident's eight processing centers located in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, California, and Massachusetts, Metals USA increases its geographic coverage toward desired target markets in the Southeast, South central, Northeast and the West Coast of the United States.

8:15AM Horizon Lines amends credit agreement and extends consent solicitation for its 4.25% convertible senior notes due 2012 (HRZ) 3.95 : Co announces that it has entered into a credit agreement amendment with its lender group, effective March 9, 2011, providing the company with additional flexibility as it moves forward with its overall debt refinancing efforts. The amendment waives a default under the senior credit facility that would have arisen from the $45 million fine that the company has agreed to pay to settle the Department of Justice investigation, upon acceptance of the Plea Agreement by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. As consideration for the amendment and waiver, co has agreed to a pricing increase of 2.50% per annum under the credit facility, an amendment fee of $0.5 million, as well as a reduction in the letter of credit commitment from $50 million to $20 million and in the swingline commitment from $20 million to $5 million.

8:02AM Verenium repurchases $28.4 million in principal amount of its outstanding convertible notes in a series of privately-negotiated transactions (VRNM) 3.02 : Co announces that it repurchased $28.4 mln in principal amount of its outstanding convertible notes in a series of privately-negotiated transactions. As part of these transactions, the co repurchased $19.9 mln in principal amount of its 5.5% Notes and $8.5 mln in principal amount of its 9% Notes, leaving an aggregate of $46.3 mln in principal amount of 5.5% and 9% Notes outstanding. To effect this repurchase, the co paid a total of $27.6 mln in cash to a group of institutional investors, excluding accrued interest as of the closing date. The co has repurchased $49.4 mln in convertible notes since September 2010.

8:01AM Herman Miller agreement to acquire POSH Office Systems; POSH has annual revenues of ~$50 mln in 2010 (MLHR) 25.56 : Co announced an agreement to acquire POSH Office Systems, a Hong Kong-based designer, manufacturer, and distributor of office furniture systems, freestanding furniture, seating, and filing and storage. POSH had annual revenues of ~$50 mln in 2010.

8:01AM WW Grainger announces daily sales increased 11% YoY for Feb 2011 (GWW) 134.41 : Results for the month included a 1 percentage point positive contribution from acquisitions and a 1 percentage point contribution from foreign exchange. Excluding acquisitions and foreign exchange, organic sales were up 9 percent, including 2 percent from price and 7 percent from volume.

8:01AM AsiaInfo COO resigns effective March 31, 2011 for personal reasons; will remain on the Board (ASIA) 20.73 : Co announces that its COO Dr. Xiwei Huang will resign from his managerial post, effective March 31, 2011. His chief responsibilities of internal IT, quality management, project control and contract management will be distributed among several senior executives, including the co's CFO, Michael Wu.

8:00AM Chemtura raises prices on clear brine fluids and mercury removal products (CHMT) 16.03 : Co announces that effective April 1, 2011, or as contract terms allow, it will increase prices on Clear Brine Fluids and Mercury Control Products by up to 30% in all regions. This increase is essential to support the long-term investment necessary to assure continued high-quality supply to our global customers, as demand for brominated derivatives continues to grow and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

7:40AM AnnTaylor beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus; guides FY12 revs above consensus (ANN) 24.21 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.19 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.17; revenues rose 9.8% year/year to $515.3 mln vs the $515.1 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of approach $510 mln vs. $488.05 mln Thomson Reuters consensus, reflecting a total co comparable sales increase in the mid-to-high single digits. Gross margin rate performance is expected to be ~58.5%. Co issues upside guidance for FY12, sees FY12 revs of ~$2.175 bln vs. $2.12 bln Thomson Reuters consensus, reflecting a total co comparable sales increase in the mid-single digits. Gross margin rate performance is expected to be ~56.0%, slightly stronger than the record gross margin rate of 55.8% achieved in fiscal 2010. "We delivered an 11 percent comparable sales increase for the quarter, with both brands achieving positive comparable sales performance."

7:36AM AnnTaylor approves expansion of share repurchase authorization by additional $200 mln; co to change corporate name to Ann Inc (ANN) 24.21 :

7:32AM Valero Energy sees its transaction with CVX to be immediately accretive to earnings (VLO) 26.32 : See CVX post at 7:01

7:17AM Inhibitex reports Q4 EPS of ($0.11) vs ($0.09) Thomson Reuters consensus on revs of $0.29 mln vs $0.37 mln consensus (INHX) 2.67 :

7:07AM LMI Aerospace reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY11 revs above consensus (LMIA) 17.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.26; revenues fell 1.6% year/year to $54.7 mln vs the $54.8 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY11, sees FY11 revs of $259-271 mln vs. $257.15 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "The co expects to increase our SG&A range to $33.8 million to $35.2 million, as we expect additional head count and professional fees to support our growth initiatives. Net interest expense is expected to be between $550,000 and $650,000 for the year, and the effective tax rate is expected to be ~34%. Capital expenditures are planned to range between $12.0 and $14.0 million. Depreciation, amortization and stock compensation expense is expected to be ~$9.0 million. Free cash flow for 2011 is expected to be ~$15.0 million."

7:06AM Arena Pharm misses by $0.01, misses on revs (ARNA) 1.52 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.23 per share, $0.01 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.22); revenues rose 49.6% year/year to $4 mln vs the $4.8 mln consensus. Arena expects to use cash and cash equivalents of ~$78-84 mln for its operating activities and interest expense in 2011, and ~$2 mln for capital expenditures. In January 2011, Arena prepaid the $20 mln payment that was due to Deerfield in July 2011. Assuming no additional capital from collaborators, investors or other sources, Arena would expect to end 2011 with ~$45-51 mln.

7:03AM Hudbay Minerals confirms that it has successfully acquired more than 90% of of Norsemont Mining that it did not already own at the time of its offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding Norsemont Shares (HBM) 16.64 :

7:01AM Chevron to Sell Pembroke refinery to Valero (VLO) (CVX) 99.08 : Co announces it has reached an agreement with VLO to sell Chevron Limited, the entity that holds the 220,000 barrel per day Pembroke Refinery and other downstream assets in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The sale price is $730 mln, plus an additional payment estimated to be $1 bln for Chevron Limited's inventory and other items. The deal is expected to be completed during the second half of 2011.

6:34AM GLG Life Tech announces a progress update on its China joint venture AN0C (GLGL) 9.65 : AN0C will launch the following six SKUs the last week of March: 1) Ready-to-drink Iced Black Tea - Zero Calories 2) RTD Iced Black Tea - Low Calorie 3) RTD Iced Green Tea - Zero Calories 4) RTD Iced Green Tea - Low Calorie 5) RTD Iced Jasmine Tea - Zero Calories 6) RTD Iced Jasmine Tea - Low Calorie Low calorie means approximately 1/3 the sugar of comparable leading national brands of RTD teas currently on the market.

6:34AM Hibbett Sporting beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides FY12 EPS in-line (HIBB) 32.98 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.44 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.43; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $173.2 mln vs the $178.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $1.70-1.90 vs. $1.80 Thomson Reuters consensus, with low to mid single digit comp growth. During the fourth quarter, the co repurchased 225,400 shares of common stock for a total expenditure of $7.8 mln, bringing the total shares repurchased for Fiscal 2011 to 1,461,225 shares for a total expenditure of $37.9 mln. Approximately $212.1 mln of the current $250.0 mln authorization remains for future stock repurchases as of the end of Fiscal 2011.

6:00AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Granite City Food & Brewery (GCFB) announced the launch of beer sales in venues outside of its 26 Midwest restaurants.
* GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL) the largest low-cost and low-fare airline in Latin America, is launching in this month of March an innovative model for selling tickets, mainly targeting Brazil's emerging middle class.
* Cummins (CMI) announced that Chairman and CEO Tim Solso is one of 10 business leaders expected to be appointed by President Barack Obama to the President's Management Advisory Board.
* Openwave Systems (OPWV) announced that Wataniya Telecom Maldives, a privately owned operator in Maldives, has selected Openwave products to assist with traffic managing solutions.
* Apexigen, an emerging biopharmaceutical co focusing on the development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics, announced today that its partner, Simcere Pharmaceutical (SCR) filed an Investigational New Drug application with the State FDA of China to evaluate APX003 as a potential cancer therapy.
* BNY Mellon (BK) announced that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has granted it a license to conduct local currency business in Shanghai.
* Ambow Education Group (AMBO) has received initial approval for its plan to set up a service outsourcing career enhancement base together with Microsoft (MSFT) in Dandong.
* Ashford University, an academic institution of Bridgepoint Education (BPI), has developed an eMarketing BA to deliver an all-inclusive education of essential promotional knowledge and practices, providing foundational web, advertising and PR comprehension.

4:43AM UK Feb PPI data (EWU) 17.63 : PPI Input +1.1% vs +2.3% in Jan
PPI Output +0.5% vs +1.0% in Jan
PPI Output Core +0.1% +0.7% in Jan

4:20AM Funtalk China beats by$0.04; beats on revs; sees Q4 revs and net income below consensus (FTLK) 5.26 : Reports Q3 (Dec) EPS of $0.22 vs $0.18 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 86.6% YoY to $300.2 mln vs $275.0 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Mar), sees Q4 (Mar) revs of $280-300 mln vs. $333.75 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co sees Q4 net income in the range of $10.0-12.0 mln vs $14.4 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11 (Mar), sees FY11 (Mar) revs of ~1.1 bln vs. $1.12 bln Thomson Reuters consensus and in-line with its previous outlook of $1.0-1.2 bln.

2:32AM Tri-Tech Holding beats by $0.01; beats on revs; guides 2011 EPS and revs in-line (TRIT) 12.55 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS of $0.32 vs $0.31 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 143% YoY to "4.3 mln vs "1.3 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11 (Dec), sees EPS of ".35-1.57 vs. ".45 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 (Dec) revs of $69-80 mln vs. $69.95 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

2:13AM Triangle Petroleum prices public offering of 16.5 mln shares at $7.50 (TPLM) 7.73 : The co intends to use the net proceeds from this offering along with cash on hand to fund drilling and development expenditures, leasehold acquisitions, including its recently announced proposed leasehold acquisitions, and general corporate purposes, including working capital.

2:11AM Alon USA Energy beats by $0.09, misses on revs (ALJ) 10.03 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.37 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.09 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.46); revenues rose 63.4% year/year to $1.36 bln vs the $1.4 bln consensus. Co anticipate restarting its California refineries in March and expects production from the Bakersfield hydrocracker unit to start by mid-year 2011. Co intends to increase the throughput of the integrated California refineries back to 2007 levels of ~55,000-60,000 barrels per day. Also, Co expects substantial improvement in the operating margin primarily due to the operation of the hydrocracker unit and further improvement in the West Coast crack spreads the industry is experiencing in 2011.

1:46AM Gibraltar Industries acquires D.S. Brown; expected to be immediately accretive to non-GAAP earnings (ROCK) 1062 : Co announces it has entered into an agreement to acquire Ohio-based D.S. Brown. Co expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to non-GAAP earnings, excluding acquisition and other one-time costs, and to be accretive on a GAAP basis in the first 12 months of combined operations. Financial terms were not disclosed.

1:42AM 3D Systems prices public offering of 2.04 mln shares of common stock at a price to the public of $44.00 per share (TDSC) 45.70 : Co announces the pricing of a public offering of 2.4 mln shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $44.00 per share. Of these shares, 1.3 mln shares are being sold by the co and 740,000 shares are being sold by certain selling stockholders. Co intends to use the net proceeds from its offering for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions. The co will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

1:40AM Alaska Air to discontinue Eureka and Redding service effective April 17, 2011 (ALK) 60.35 :

1:38AM Armstrong World Industries amends Senior Credit facility; co expects to save $2.75-5.50 mln in interest expense annually (AWI) 45.51 : Co announces it has amended its existing Senior Secured Credit Facility of November 23, 2010. Taking advantage of improving capital markets, the co is acting to lower future interest expense. The amendment provides for three changes to the term loan B portion of the agreement: the borrowing spread over LIBOR is reduced from 3.5% to 3.0%, the LIBOR floor is reduced from 1.5% to 1.0%, and the maturity of the loan is extended to March 10, 2018. The co expects to save $2.75-5.5 mln in interest expense annually.

1:35AM Vectren prices $150 mln of Senior Unsecured Notes (VVC) 26.56 : Co announces its subsidiary, Vectren Utility Holdings priced $150 mln of its senior unsecured notes to be issued in three tranches of 10, 15 and 30 years. VUHI will be issuing $55 mln of 4.67% Series A senior notes due Nov. 30, 2021; $60 mln of 5.02% Series B senior notes due Nov. 30, 2026; and $35 mln of 5.99% Series C senior notes due Dec. 2, 2041. The proceeds received from the issuance of the senior notes will be used to partially refinance $250 mln of VUHI long-term debt maturing Dec. 1, 2011.

1:32AM Japan: Quake NE of Tokyo upgraded to 8.9 magnitude; highest Tsunami warning issued; reports of fires and flooding; buildings evacuated (EWJ) 10.99 :

1:29AM Rackspace appoints Karl Pichler as Acting CFO (RAX) 36.77 : Co announces the appointment of Karl Pichler as Acting CFO and Principal Financial Officer, effective April 15, 2011. Pichler will serve on an interim basis while the co conducts a search for the position. Pichler will replace Bruce Knooihuizen who announced his retirement on February 10, 2011.

1:28AM Legacy Reserves enters into amended and restated credit agreement (LGCY) 29.66 : Co announces it has entered into an amended and restated five-year, $1 bln secured revolving Credit Agreement. The initial borrowing base has been increased to $500 mln from $410 mln, primarily reflecting co's acquisition and development activities over the past six months. This borrowing base is scheduled to be redetermined every six months starting October 1, 2011.

1:25AM Transatlantic Hldngs expects to incur total pre-tax net catastrophe costs of ~$200 mln in its 1Q11 for catastrophe costs due to New Zealand earthquake (TRH) 50.33 :

1:23AM Warner Chilcott prices secondary equity offering of 25 mln ordinary shares at a price to the public of $23.25 per share by selling shareholders (WCRX) 23.61 : The co will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares, but will pay the expenses of the offering (other than the underwriting discount, which will be paid by the selling shareholders) pursuant to an existing agreement.

1:21AM Endeavour Intl applies to list its common stock on the NYSE; anticipates that trading will begin on or about March 15, 2011 under its current ticker symbol (END) 13.00 :

1:19AM Getty Realty Corp. extends the maturity date of its $175 mln revolving credit agreement to March 2012; all other terms of the credit agreement remain the same (GTY) 22.12 :

1:14AM RC2 to be acquired by Tomy for $27.90 in cash (RCRC) 25.51 : Co announces it have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Tomy will acquire RC2 through an all-cash tender offer and second-step merger valued at ~$640 mln. Tomy, through a U.S. subsidiary, will make an offer to purchase all outstanding shares of RCRC common stock for $27.90 per share. Co may solicit acquisition proposals from third parties for a period of 30 calendar days continuing through April 9, 2011, subject to extension for an additional 15 calendar days in limited circumstances.

1:12AM Brown & Brown acquires assets of Robert Ellis & Associates (BRO) 24.92 : Co announces that it has acquired substantially all of the insurance agency assets of Robert Ellis & Associates. Firm had annualized revenues of approximately $1.3 mln

1:09AM Leap Wireless responds to Pentwater Capital intention to nominate directors; strongly disagrees with many of the assertions contained in Pentwater's letter (LEAP) 13.69 : Co issues statement following statement in response to today's publicly released letter from Pentwater Capital announcing its intent to nominate three directors for election to co's Board. "...we strongly disagree with many of the assertions contained in Pentwater's letter...In the fourth quarter, smartphones and the accompanying $55 rate plan reached approximately 40% of the Company's sales mix. In addition, customer churn rates fell to the lowest level we have seen in nearly ten years and ARPU improved significantly. These dramatically improving ARPU and churn results are continuing into the first quarter, along with strong improvements in customer activity. We believe that these trends provide significant momentum and that we are very well positioned to deliver improved financial performance and increased shareholder value."

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