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Market Update: 110316
4:30 pm : Soured sentiment amid ongoing headline risk caused stocks to set a new low for 2011. Although the market worked its way up from that point, it still suffered its seventh loss in nine sessions.

Market participants continue to grapple with threats of nuclear fallout in Japan and further instability surrounding the social and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. Uncertainty regarding portfolio positioning amid those themes has made many become defensive, or even skittish.

Fret among investors became most apparent during an aggressive midday selling effort that dropped the S&P 500 to a new two-month low of 1249. The Volatility Index, often euphemistically dubbed the Fear Gauge, simultaneously spiked to its highest level since last summer.

Even though stocks logged another loss, the major averages were able to work their way off of session lows. Some participants continue to abide by the buy-the-dip philosophy that had frequently proven so successful in previous weeks.

While the dollar traded with strength amid losses in the stock market, the greenback actually lost ground against the yen. The Japanese currency actually hit 79.72 yen per dollar, which makes for its highest level in more than 15 years. Many pundits attribute the yen's strength to an unwind in the carry trade.

Data generally disappointed today. First on the list of releases is a housing starts report that showed a 22.5% drop in February to an annualized rate of 479,000 units, which is not only considerably less than the 575,000 units that had been forecasted, on average, by economists surveyed by Briefing.com, but also the slowest rate in almost two years. Building permits for February were also discouraging. They fell 8.2% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 517,000, which is less than the 573,000 that had been broadly expected.

Excluding food and energy, producer prices for February increased by 0.2%, as had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com. However, the headline PPI number spiked 1.6%, which is far more than the 0.6% that had been broadly expected. DJ30 -242.12 NASDAQ -50.51 NQ100 -2.5% R2K -1.2% SP400 -1.0% SP500 -24.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 730/2.58 bln/1899 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 703/1.46 bln/2323

3:40 pm : Events in Japan continued to dominate the focus of the market, which included commodities. Headlines about the situation in Japan were around all day and those created volatility, especially in crude oil. April crude oil finished higher by 0.8% to $97.98 per barrel. Commentary from the EU Energy Chief, apparently taken out of context, pushed crude oil back toward the flat line. An AP story, however, reported that Tokyo Electric Power has almost completed a new power line that could restore electricity to the complex and solve the crisis that has threatened a meltdown. This report sent crude oil back toward the $99 area, where it remains in electronic trade. April natural gas finished near the unchanged mark at $3.94 per MMBtu.

April gold finished higher by +0.3% to $1396.10 per ounce, while May silver gained 0.6% to end at $34.47 per ounce. Both metals gave back most gains from earlier in the session after spending the afternoon session pulling back. DJ30 -215.78 NASDAQ -39.87 SP500 -20.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 966/2.1 bln/1625 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 925/1.1 bln/2057

3:00 pm : For the third straight session stocks were knocked down dramatically, but have successfully trimmed their losses in afternoon trade. Although stocks have repeatedly worked their way up from session lows, the market continues to end the day lower than where it started. In fact, the stock market is on pace for its seventh loss in nine sessions. The intraday trend is largely owed to a buy-the-dip philosopy that has governed trade for the past several weeks.DJ30 -168.40 NASDAQ -30.86 SP500 -16.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 864/1.94 bln/1725 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 866/940 mln/2118

2:30 pm : Another aggressive round of selling recently took the S&P 500 all the way down to the 1249 line. The drop coincided with the yen's spike to a new multi-year high of about 79.75 yen per dollar. Many pundits attribute the yen's climb in recent sessions to an unwind in the carry trade.

Selling pressure continues to stoke the Volatility Index, which is now up more than 25% to its highest level since July.

The recent selling frenzy has settled down so that stocks have started to lift up from the lows recently set. DJ30 -210.71 NASDAQ -39.96 SP500 -22.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 697/1.78 bln/1891 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 645/830 mln/2336

2:00 pm : Stocks have fallen another leg lower so that the S&P 500 now sits beneath the depths probed in the prior session at a new two-month low.

Underlying share volume has been robust this session. There are still two full hours before the toll of the closing bell and more than 700 million shares have already traded hands on the New York Stock Exchange. The increase in activity comes as investors juggle their portfolios amid ongoing headline risk related to Japan's nuclear facilities and the political and social tumult in the Middle East and North Africa. DJ30 -200.23 NASDAQ -40.22 SP500 -20.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 843/1.52 bln/1718 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 824/713 mln/2130

1:30 pm : The dollar has attracted additional buying interest in recent trade. It is now up approximately 0.5% against a basket of major foreign currencies. Although the greenback is currently up against a collection of competing currencies, it was recently down against Japan's yen to 80.15 yen per dollar, which marked the dollar's lowest level against the yen since 1995.DJ30 -180.59 NASDAQ -35.06 SP500 -18.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 924/1.40 bln/1608 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 932/650 mln/2004

1:05 pm : Ongoing headline risk continues to weigh on stocks and has prompted market participants to maintain a protective posture. Data today has only supported their defensiveness.

The overall mood among morning participants was weakened by reports of increased violence and instability surrounding the social and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. That news helped prop up oil prices, which are currently up 1.3% to $98.45 per barrel. The advance has come in the face of a greater-than-expected build in weekly inventories.

Data disappointed this morning. Housing starts for February made a surprisingly dramatic drop of more than 20% to an annualized rate of 479,000, which is the slowest pace in almost two years. Building permits for February fell 8.2% in an unexpected drop.

As for Producer prices, the headline PPI number for February increased by 1.6% for its sharpest spike since June 2009, but core producer prices increased by a much more tame 0.2%, which matched the Briefing.com consensus.

Uninspiring headlines in the early going left stocks without any form of real leadership for the first hour of trade. In turn, there was little support for stocks when an EU energy official expressed his concern for the possibility of catastrophic events stemming from the many explosions at Japan's nuclear facilities. Stocks fell sharply amid aggressive selling pressure, but began to rebound when it was learned that the comments were not based on any special knowledge and were reflective of comments the official had already made.

Despite the clarification, stocks remain under the control of sellers, who redoubled their efforts shortly after noon ET to take the stock market to within a point of its prior session low. Stocks have since eased up from that mark, but weakness remains widespread. DJ30 -143.61 NASDAQ -25.38 SP500 -13.85 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 939/1.30 bln/1583 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 938/600 mln/1979

12:30 pm : Sellers recently redoubled their efforts to drop the S&P 500 to a fresh session low that was only about a point above the prior session's lowest levels. Stocks have since made a modest up from that mark, but widespread weakness remains.DJ30 -149.93 NASDAQ -29.41 SP500 -14.89 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 782/1.17 bln/1710 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 838/525 mln/2054

12:00 pm : Stocks are still stuck in the red with sizable losses. Tech-related issues are under the most pressure. As such, IBM (IBM 153.64, -5.38) and Apple (AAPL 334.29, -1.14) are among this session's worst performers. Large-cap tech issues are also seeing some of the strongest trading volume.

As for advancing issues, they are still outnumbered by a considerable margin. Still, energy plays Peabody Energy (BTU 68.07, +2.99) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK 34.73, +1.12) have attracted a strong bid; they are this session's top performers by percent gained. DJ30 -143.01 NASDAQ -33.38 SP500 -14.79 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 904/967 mln/1569 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1045/446 mln/1816

11:30 am : The stock market has rebounded from its recent drop, but it still has a ways to go before it will be back at the session highs set less than an hour ago. The stock market's recent drop was widely attributed to stirring comments about potential for catastrophic events by an EU energy official, but follow-up reports have indicated that those comments are similar to some already made the day before.

Nonetheless, recent swings in the stock market have stoked volatility so that the Volatility Index, often euphemistically dubbed the Fear Gauge, is now up almost 9%. That takes the VIX to its highest level since August. DJ30 -99.53 NASDAQ -21.71 SP500 -9.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1023/810 mln/1386 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1186/370 mln/1666

11:00 am : A sudden flurry of selling pressure has sent stocks down sharply. Pressure behind the move is becoming increasingly aggressive.

The move lower coincides with headlines about comments from an EU energy official regarding the possibility of catastrophic events. It also comes after the S&P 500 failed to extend its morning climb above 1281, which is within striking distance of where stocks closed the prior session.

Weakness in stocks has sent participants running into Treasuries. In turn, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note dropped beneath yesterday's lows to fresh three-month lows. DJ30 -140.55 NASDAQ -23.05 SP500 -12.59 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1314/545 mln/1034 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1575/230 mln/1202

10:35 am : Despite strength in the dollar index, most commodities are trading higher this morning. In the CRB Index, 15 out of its 19 components are higher. The laggards include nickel -4.3%, aluminum -2.6%, orange juice -0.9% and live cattle -0.5%.

April crude oil has been steadily higher during this morning's session and just put in new session highs of $99.35 per barrel at the top of the hour. Strength is largely being driven by new events in the Middle East as the situation in Bahrain has taken a turn for the worse. Ahead of inventory data, crude remained just below that level. Following the data, which showed a build of 1745K versus consensus which called for a build of 1300K, crude traded put in new session highs of $99.59 and is now up 2.4% at $99.52 per barrel.

April natural gas has been higher all session and is currently up 1.3% at $4.00 per MMBtu.

Precious metals are also higher despite strength in the dollar index. April gold is up 0.8% at $1403.80 per ounce, while May silver is 2.3% higher at $34.89 per ounce.

Grains are higher as losses yesterday, which were largely due to lower demand from Japan due to their crisis, was overdone. Wheat +2.9%, soybeans +2.1% and corn +1.7%.DJ30 -56.96 NASDAQ -2.00 SP500 -3.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1119/391.2 mln/1160 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1304/169.9 mln/1438

10:00 am : Stocks have worked their way up from opening lows, but trade in the early going remains choppy.

Materials stocks helped lead the broader market up from its low in the prior session by rallying from a loss of more than 3% to end the session with a loss of less than 0.2%. The materials sector is showing relative strength again today as it pokes into positive territory. Energy stocks have also caught a bid in recent trade so that the sector now sports a slight gain.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+0.1%), Energy (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Tech (-0.6%), Health Care (-0.6%), Financial (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.3%), Utilities (-0.2%), Industrial (-0.1%), Telecom (-0.1%)DJ30 -61.12 NASDAQ -8.12 SP500 -4.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 957/165 mln/1190 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1082/90 mln/1557

09:45 am : Sellers hit stocks at the open to send the major equity averages markedly lower. Stocks have made modest attempts to rebound from the gap down, though.

Leadership is lacking in the early going. Tech, the largest sector by market weight in the S&P 500, is down 0.8%, which makes it the worst performing sector.

General weakness among stocks has helped refresh the bid for Treasuries, but the yield on the 10-year Note is still above the three-month low of about 3.20% that was set yesterday. DJ30 -74.74 NASDAQ -11.08 SP500 -6.28 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 857/50 mln/1188 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 841/45 mln/1584

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -13.00. A lackluster start appears to be in order for today's trade, according to stock futures at least. The relatively mixed mood comes amid ongoing social and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as continued concerns about nuclear facilites in Japan. Domestic data hasn't done anything to improve the mood of premarket participants. Housing starts for February suffered their worst month-over-month drop in more than 25 years to an annualized rate of 479,000, which is the slowest pace in almost two years. Building permits for February fell 8.2% in a weak follow-up to a 10.2% drop in January. Overall producer prices for February increased 1.6% in their sharpest spike since June 2009, but core producer prices increased an in-line 0.2%. Oil prices are down from their early morning highs, but they are still up 1.2% to $98.35 per barrel in early pit trade. Weekly inventory data are due at 10:30 AM ET.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -10.30. Stock futures have yet to return to recent morning highs. Action has improved a bit in Europe, where Germany's DAX is now up 0.3%. Infineon Tech and Muenchener Rue have offered leadership. SAP AG and Allianz (AZ) continue to undermine their efforts, though. France's CAC is currently off by 0.5%. Financial outfits BNP Paribas and Societe Generale have been the heaviest drags on trade. Total (TOT) continues to come under pressure, too. Danone and Pernod-Ricard have offered some support. Banking plays HSBC (HBC) and Barclays (BCS) have dragged Britain's FTSE to a 0.5% loss. Natural resource plays BP Plc (BP) and Rio Tinto (RTP) have helped limit broad market losses, though. There hasn't been much market moving data released from Europe, but Moody's did announce a two-notch downgrade to Portugal's debt, which is now ranked A3. Spain's debt was just downgraded last week.

Action in Asia improved considerably from the prior session, but concerns related to Japan's nuclear facilities continue. Japan's Nikkei rallied to a 5.7% gain after it suffered a 10.6% loss in the prior session. Softbank, Kyocera (KYO), Fast Retailing, and KDDI Corp led the advance. Only a few names failed to advance; Secom Co., Japan Steel, and Tokyo Electric were atop that short list. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite advanced 1.2%. China Shenhua, Industrial & Commercial Bank, and Aluminum Corp were leaders. Sinovel Wind was a notable laggard. Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded with much more modest strength; it gained just 0.1%. Industrial & Commercial Bank was a leading issue, but HSBC offset its strength. PetroChina (PTR) was also a source of support while China Mobile moved markedly lower.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -9.80. Stock futures recently made a move to their best levels of the past couple of hours, but they have pulled back in the wake of the latest data release. Housing starts for February dropped 22.5% month over month to an annualized rate of 479,000 units, which is a surprise since a rate of 575,000 units that had been forecasted, on average, by economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Building permits for February fell 8.2% from the prior month to an annualized rate of 517,000, which is less than the 573,000 estimated by economists polled by Briefing.com. Separately, the February Producer Price Index for February increased 1.6% month over month. It had been broadly expected to increase by just 0.6%. Excluding food and energy, producer prices increased by a much more tepid 0.2% month over month, as had been generally expected. As for the fourth quarter current account deficit, it was reported at $113.3 billion. The third quarter deficit was revised downward to $125.5 billion.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.80. Stocks trimmed losses for the second straight session yesterday, but futures point to another lower start for today's trade. Troubles at Japan's nuclear facilties continue, but the country's Nikkei rallied 5.7% after a 10.6% drop in the prior session. Asia's other major averages saw more moderate buying interest. Europe's major bourses are mostly lower once again. After a downgrade of Spain's debt last week, analysts at Moody's have taken Portugal's rating down to A3 from A1 and assigned a negative outlook. Corporate news has been light this morning, but a healthy dose of data is on its way. The bottom of the hour brings the latest in housing starts, building permits, and producer prices. The fourth quarter current account balance is also due at 8:30 AM ET. Later this morning (10:30 AM ET), weekly oil inventory data will be posted. Crude oil futures prices are presently up 1.9% to $99 per barrel ahead of pit trade.

06:45 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -4.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.50.

06:45 am : Nikkei...9093.72...+488.60...+5.70%. Hang Seng...22700.88...+22.60...+0.10%.

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

7:04PM New Gold announces approval of El Morro environmental impact assessment (NGD) 9.55 +0.01 : Co announces that authorities in Chile have approved an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") for the El Morro project in northern Chile. New Gold is a 30% joint venture partner in the project, with Goldcorp (GG), the project developer, holding 70%. The granting of the EIA facilitates commencement of construction activities by Goldcorp, and specific permits will be obtained during the course of project implementation. GG will now conduct condemnation drilling, and subsequent exploration drilling will concentrate on in-fill drilling and sampling for metallurgical and geo-technical data. A further update to the feasibility study is expected in Q3 of 2011, including revised capital and operating cost estimates and some refinements to the mine plan and mining equipment requirements.

6:58PM Consolidated Water reports 2010 EPS $0.43 vs. $0.46; revs fell 13% to $50.7 mln (CWCO) 10.27 -0.25 :

6:31PM BioSante reports ($0.70) per share in 2010 vs. ($0.47) Thomson Reuters consensus (BPAX) 1.83 +0.04 : This decrease in net loss was due primarily to transaction and non-cash technology related expenses in 2009, associated with the company's merger with Cell Genesys, Inc., offset by increased LibiGel(R) clinical development expenses in 2010.

6:25PM ON Semiconductor: Update on impact to ON Semiconductor from Japan earthquake (ONNN) 9.58 -0.21 : Co announced the impact to operations in Japan from last Friday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake. The company has confirmed that there have been no on-site injuries to the SANYO Semiconductor division or other ON Semiconductor employees in Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.

6:15PM Midas' Bank Group grants waiver, modifies loan convenants to accommodate payment of award in European arbitration (MDS) 8.39 -0.29 : Co has been granted a waiver by its bank group for violating certain financial covenants in its existing revolving credit facility, as a result of a recent ruling in the arbitration between the co and its European licensee MESA S.p.A. and Mobivia Groupe S.A. As a result of the arbitration ruling, Midas must pay an ~$25.5 mln award (including interest) to MESA and Mobivia that has been accrued in the co's Q4 2010 operating results. The co's Dec 2009 revolving credit facility's covenants required a maximum three-to-one ratio of total debt, including bank debt, letters of credit and the balance of capital leases, to the company's consolidated adjusted EBITDA. As part of the waiver, the bank group has amended the credit agreement to exclude the $25.5 mln expense from the adjusted EBITDA calculations for 2010 and 2011. The revolving credit facility is unsecured and provides for borrowings and letters of credit of up to $125 mln. The co had $62.7 mln of outstanding borrowings at the end of 2010 prior to payment of the arbitration award.

6:08PM Wilshire Bancorp announces adjustments to the financial results reported for Q4 and full year 2010 (WIBC) 5.81 -0.20 : Co announced that the reported net loss available to common shareholders and certain financial information previously disclosed in its earnings release for Q4 and full year 2010, dated Jan 24, 2011, differs from the reported net loss available to common shareholders and certain financial information in the Co's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec 31, 2010, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, March 16, 2011. The Co's Jan 24, 2011 earnings release reported that the Company had recorded a provision for loan losses of $65.5 mln and a net loss available to common shareholders of $30.0 mln for the fourth quarter of 2010. The Co also reported a provision for loan losses of $132.7 mln and a net loss available to common shareholders of $28.1 mln for the year ended 2010. Since that time, the Co has received additional information regarding its loan portfolio and has determined that an additional $18.1 mln provision for loan losses is required for the fourth quarter of 2010. As a result of this adjustment, the Co's net loss available to common shareholders for Q4 of 2010 increased by $10.3 mln, net of tax benefit, to $40.3 mln and the Co's net loss available to common shareholders for the year ended 2010 increased to $38.4 mln.

6:05PM Peabody Energy announces redemption of 5 7/8% senior notes due 2016 (BTU) 67.67 +2.54 : Co announced that it will redeem for cash all of its outstanding 5 7/8% senior notes due 2016 on April 15, 2011. In compliance with the terms of the indenture governing the notes, the redemption price is equal to 100.979% of the aggregate principal amount of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to April 15, 2011. With the redemption, the co improves its investment flexibility by removing a component of its capital structure that contains high-yield debt covenants. The aggregate principal amount outstanding of the notes is $218.1 mln. On and after April 15, 2011, the notes will no longer be deemed outstanding, interest will cease to accrue, and all rights of the holders will cease, except for the right to receive the redemption price, without interest.

6:03PM Servidyne reports Q1 from cont ops. of ($0.32) vs. ($0.17) in last year's quarter; revs grew 40% to $5.9 mln (SERV) 3.02 -0.00 :

5:55PM Terex responds to false statements by United Against Nuclear Iran (TEX) 34.75 +0.35 : Terex Corp issued the following statement in response to the press release from the United Against Nuclear Iran ("UANI") organization calling on Terex Corporation ("Terex") to end its business in Iran, which falsely accuses Terex of continuing to sell cranes to Iranian regime: Terex believes that a co's conduct and its reputation are among its most valuable assets, and we strive to be good national and global citizens. As a global company, Terex also respects the human rights of all individuals around the world. In this regard, Terex Corporation shares many of the concerns of UANI relating to the Iranian regime. While Terex Corporation has always complied with U.S. laws, for some time now Terex has had an internal policy prohibiting all new business transactions in Iran for its all of its subsidiaries, even if the transaction would otherwise be permissible under U.S. law or the laws of other countries. We regret that the UANI organization did not check its facts with Terex before targeting Terex in its New Cranes Campaign. We call on UANI to immediately remove Terex from its New Cranes Campaign, rescind its related press release and open letter posted on its website, and correct its inaccurate statements as to Terex.

5:52PM Calamos Investments announces dismissal of ARPS lawsuit for Convertible Opportunities and Income Fund (CHI) (CLMS) 14.87 -0.73 :

5:50PM Japan's nuclear agency will hold a press briefing at 8:00pm EST; the Nikkei also opens at 8:00pm EST; Nikkei futures are currently near session lows, now -195 at 8335 (EWJ) 9.66 -0.38 :

5:46PM Nikkei futures are currently at session lows (EWJ) 9.66 -0.38 :

5:38PM Currency Commentary: The yen pushes to record highs against the dollar as Asian markets are hours away from opening; Yen hit 76.50 against the dollar before sliding back to 77.44 (FOREX) :

5:37PM Fed Agricult Mortg reports Q4 core earnings at of $0.63 vs. $0.52 in last year's quarter; (AGM) 17.54 -0.42 : Those results brought Farmer Mac's core earnings for 2010 to $25.4 million ($2.39 per diluted common share), compared to $16.1 million ($1.58 per diluted common share) in 2009. This 58 percent increase in core earnings in 2010 compared to 2009 was due to increased business volume and an increased effective net interest spread.

5:35PM Teva announces pricing of $750 mln of senior notes (TEVA) 47.37 -1.06 : Co announced that it successfully priced a debt offering by one of its special purpose finance subsidiaries consisting of two tranches: $500,000,000 of three-month LIBOR +0.500% floating rate senior notes maturing in March 2014, and $250,000,000 of 1.700% fixed rate senior notes maturing in March 2014. The notes will be sold at a price of $1,000.00 and $999.42 per $1,000 principal amount, respectively, and are rated A3 by Moody's Investor Services and A- by Standard & Poor's. The notes will be guaranteed by Teva. Teva expects to use the proceeds from this offering to repay a portion of the short-term debt outstanding under its unsecured credit facilities.

5:35PM Enbridge reaches 10-year toll agreement on crude oil mainline system (ENB) 58.23 -0.32 : Co announced that agreement has been reached with shippers on its crude oil mainline system with respect to the principal terms of a 10-year Competitive Toll Settlement (CTS). The CTS remains subject to completion of the definitive settlement agreement, and to approval by the National Energy Board (NEB). The CTS is expected to be filed with the NEB in mid May, accompanied by a support letter from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and to be effective July 1, 2011. The CTS covers the local tolls to be charged for service on the Canadian portion of the mainline system held by wholly owned subsidiary Enbridge Pipelines Inc. (EPI), and during the term of the CTS all existing toll agreements on the Canadian system will be superceded. Local tolls for service on the U.S. portion of the system, held by affiliate Enbridge Energy Partners L.P. (EEP), will not be affected by the CTS and will continue to be established by EEP's existing toll agreements.

5:35PM Delta Petroleum misses by $0.05, beats on revs; sees Q1 production +4-7% from Q4 (DPTR) 0.93 -0.03 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.12 per share, $0.05 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.07); revenues fell 50.1% year/year to $36.4 mln vs the $21.2 mln consensus. Current production from the Vega Area exceeds 30.0 million cubic feet equivalent per day ("Mmcfe/d") net. During the fourth quarter 2010 the Company completed eight wells from its drilled and uncompleted inventory in the Vega Area. Production for the first quarter 2011 is expected to be between 3.5 Bcfe and 3.6 Bcfe, exceeding the fourth quarter 2010 by 4% to 7%.

5:35PM AGL Capital Corp announces public offering of $500 mln of senior notes (AGL) 38.57 +0.01 : Co announced a registered offering of $500 million of Senior Notes due 2041 at an interest rate of 5.875%. The co estimates that the net proceeds from the offering will be ~$495 million. The Senior Notes will be guaranteed by AGL Resources. Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated; RBS Securities Inc.; and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated are the joint book-running managers for the offering.

5:28PM RenaissanceRe announces initial estimated losses related to the 2011 Australian flooding and the Feb 2011 New Zealand earthquake (RNR) 63.90 -1.70 : Co announced its initial loss estimates for the 2011 Australian flooding as well as the February 2011 New Zealand earthquake, and commented on the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Company currently expects the 2011 Australian flooding and the February 2011 New Zealand earthquake will have a net negative impact of ~$30 million and $190 million, respectively, on the Company's first quarter 2011 results.

5:07PM Cliffs Natural Resources announces pricing of an aggregate $1 bln public offering of senior notes (CLF) 83.73 -2.09 : Co announced that it has priced two tranches of a registered public offering of Senior Notes. The offering includes a 10-year tranche of $700 mln aggregate principal amount of 4.875% Senior Notes due April 1, 2021, and an additional issuance of $300 mln aggregate principal amount of 6.25% Senior Notes due October 1, 2040. Co expects to close the $700 mln offering on March 23, 2011, and the $300 mln reopening of the 2040 Senior Notes on April 1, 2011, with each tranche subject to customary closing conditions. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated are serving as joint book-running managers for the offering.

5:06PM United Community Banks, Inc. Announces $380 Million Capital Raise and Plans to Sell $435 Million of Classified Assets (UCBI) 1.53 +0.18 : Co has entered into definitive agreements to raise $380 mln of capital through the purchase of a combination of United's common stock and mandatorily convertible preferred stock (the "Private Placement") by an affiliate of Corsair Capital, LLC and a group of institutional investors. Under terms of the Private Placement, shares of common stock will be sold at a price of $1.90 per share. The preferred stock will be convertible into common stock at a conversion price of $1.90 per share, and such conversion will be mandatory immediately following receipt of required shareholder approvals. United also plans to sell ~$293 mln of substandard and nonperforming loans in a series of bulk transactions expected to close during Q2 of 2011. Further, United plans to accelerate the disposition of ~$142 mln of foreclosed properties during the second and third quarters. On a pro forma basis, had these transactions been completed at December 31, 2010, they would have significantly reduced classified assets, including a $235 mln reduction in nonperforming assets. United also estimates the after-tax charges associated with the Asset Sale and accelerated disposition of foreclosed properties to be in the range of $140 mln to $155 mln in the aggregate. Assuming the mid-point of this range, pro forma tangible book value at December 31, 2010 would have equaled $2.27 per share as compared to the reported value of $4.76 per share.

5:02PM Pinnacle Airlines Corp. Releases February Performance Data; ASM +65% YoY, RPM +64.8% YoY, Load factor flat (PNCL) 29.16 -0.25 : Co reported that available seat miles (ASMs) rose 65%, revenue passenger miles (RPMs) rose 64.8%, and the load factor remained at 66.1%.

4:46PM Clifton Savings Bancorp announces the Supreme Court of New Jersey issues unanimous decision in favor of Clifton Savings Bancorp's Directors (CSBK) 11.61 +0.11 : Co announced that on March 16, 2011 the Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the decision of the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division relating to a derivative action alleging claims of corporate waste and breach of fiduciary duty against Clifton Savings Bank, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary ("Bank"), and its directors filed by Mr. Lawrence Seidman. In affirming the Appellate Division's decision, the Supreme Court found that Mr. Seidman failed to demonstrate that the stock options and restricted stock awards granted to directors under the Company's 2005 Equity Incentive Plan constituted corporate waste or breach of fiduciary duty.

4:44PM Medco Health Solutions confirms that CalPERS terminated negotiations for renewing a contract awarded to the co (MHS) 56.23 -2.90 : MHS confirmed that The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has provided notice that it has terminated negotiations for renewing a contract awarded to MHS for pharmacy benefit management services, the co said today. The renewal was scheduled to commence on January 1, 2012.

4:41PM Tekmira sues Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for repeated misuse of trade secrets and confidential information; Tekmira's financial guidance and expected cash runway remain the same, (TKMR) 4.29 -0.28 : Co announced that the complaint also alleges unfair and deceptive trade practices, unjust enrichment, unfair competition and false advertising about Tekmira's Proprietary Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) Technology. The damages that Tekmira will be seeking are substantial. Among these damages, Tekmira believes it has rights to Alnylam's pipeline products. These damages, including future milestones and royalties associated with these products alone could exceed one billion dollars. In addition, Tekmira will also seek the profits that Alnylam has unjustly received from collaborations based on the wrongful use of Tekmira's technology. All of this will be subject to what Tekmira learns in discovery in prosecuting this case, but even at this early stage, Tekmira believes that it is entitled to very significant damages by reason of Alnylam's illegal conduct as alleged in the complaint. Tekmira has taken appropriate steps to ensure that the company can pursue this lawsuit without interruption to its core business activities. Tekmira's financial guidance and expected cash runway remain the same, with the current cash on hand enabling execution of its business strategy into 2012. Tekmira plans to report its year-end 2010 audited financial results on March 30, 2011.

4:39PM Endologix files form 10-K; Nellix purchase price allocation finalized (ELGX) 5.91 +0.09 : Upon finalization of the purchase price allocation related to Endologix's December 2010 acquisition of Nellix, Inc., the Company revised the amount of the purchase price allocated to in-process research and development (IPR&D) to $40.1 million and goodwill to $22.4 million. Accordingly, the Company revised the associated deferred tax liability and the corresponding change in valuation allowance effect. This resulted in an income tax benefit of $15.1 million compared to $11.3 million previously reported. The revisions had no effect on cash flows or cash balances.

4:39PM 1st United Bancorp has commenced an underwritten public offering of approximately 5.0 million shares of its common stock (FUBC) 7.04 -0.08 : Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is serving as sole book-running manager of the proposed offering. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. is serving as co-manager.

4:38PM Avatar Holdings reported 2010 EPS of ($3.07) vs. ($3.11) in last year's quarter; revs fell 19.5% to $59.1 mln (AVTR) 19.36 +0.04 : The co reported that the number of housing contracts signed, net of cancellations, for the year ended Dec 31, 2010 decreased by 16% to 168, compared to 199 for the year ended Dec 31, 2009. The dollar volume of contracts signed increased by 2% compared to the year ended Dec 31, 2009, to $35,043,000, compared to $34,218,000. The number of units in backlog was 43 at Dec 31, 2010, compared to 25 at Dec 31, 2009. The aggregate dollar volume of our backlog at Dec 31, 2010 was $11,409,000, compared to $5,469,000 at Dec 31, 2009.

4:37PM CLARCOR beats by $0.01, misses on revs; raises FY11 EPS in-line (CLC) 42.36 +0.36 : Reports Q1 (Feb) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 14.2% year/year to $245.7 mln vs the $250.7 mln consensus. Co issues raises guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $2.20-2.35 vs. $2.20 Thomson Reuters consensus, up from $2.10-2.25 see previously. "There has been much discussion in the financial press about increases in commodity prices. Although we have experienced higher material costs--notably in steel and media--these cost increases did not have a significant impact on our margins in the first quarter. Many of our business units proactively purchased ahead in 2010 thus mitigating the impact of the recent commodity price increases in the first quarter... Going forward in 2011, we anticipate that higher commodity prices will increase our material costs. However, we expect that we will be able to pass most of these higher material costs to our customers. Since a large majority of our business is in the after-market where we control our pricing sheets, we believe our ability to pass material cost increases to our customers is greater than companies which deal primarily with OEMs... Based upon our anticipated ability to recover material cost through pricing without significantly impacting demand, we do not expect that higher material costs will have a significantly negative impact on our operating margins in 2011."

4:34PM China Biologic Products delays annual filing; issues prelim 2010 results; expects 2010 revs below consensus (CBPO) 16.05 +0.60 : Co reported unaudited preliminary financial highlights for the year ended December 31, 2010. The co will file a Notification of Late Filing as amended, with the SEC for its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year 2010. The delay in filing is due to two factors. First, the co is reevaluating the application of the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in certain accounting treatments applied to its prior year financial results and the first three quarters of 2010. Second, the co appointed KPMG as its new auditor on December 22, 2010 and expected KPMG would finish their audit before March 31, 2011. The co's estimated revenues of $139.7 mln were 1.6% lower than its minimum revenues guidance of $142 mln to $149 mln (Thomson Reuters dual-analyst est is $147.8 mln), which was primarily due to lower than expected demand for human albumin resulting from unexpected high volume of lower-priced human albumin imports into China and less than expected direct institution sales from Dalin. The co chose not to compromise the reputation of its high-quality products by reducing prices. Estimated adjusted non-GAAP net income in 2010, although not yet disclosed, is expected to exceed the upper end of its guidance range of $34-36 mln for the year 2010. (Thomson Reuters dual-analyst est is $48.5 mln)

4:31PM ArvinMeritor to change ticker to "MTOR" effective at the start of trading on March 30, 2011 (ARM) 17.23 : The ticker symbol change coincides with the company's official name change at that time from "ArvinMeritor" to "Meritor."

4:27PM SciClone Pharma Delay in Filing 10-K; reports prelim Q4 revs in-line; expected to see 2010 EPS below consensus; (SCLN) 4.11 -0.05 : Co sees 2010 EPS below consensus; co expects to see 2010 EPS of $0.41-0.46 vs. $0.47 Thomson Reuters consensus; co provides Q4 prelime revs of $23.6 mln vs. $23.6 consensus. The co is in the process of completing an evaluation of its foreign tax positions which may result in additional tax expense being recognized in its financial statements. In addition, the special committee of the Board is continuing its investigation of a range of matters including the possibility of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The evaluation of the Company's foreign tax positions and the evaluation of information resulting from the investigation may result in the identification of material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in internal controls over financial reporting. Co will file a notice under Rule 12b-25 that the filing of its report on Form 10-K will be delayed. The co is in the process of completing its evaluation of its foreign tax positions which may result in additional tax expense recognized in its financial statements, which the co believes will result in earnings per share within the guidance previously provided for 2010.

4:27PM Northwest Biotherapeutics comments on recent unusual activity in the co's stock; it is not aware of any basis relating to the Company or its products or programs (NWBO) 0.37 0.00 :

4:24PM Colony Financial declares Q1 dividend of $0.32/share, prior $0.30/share (CLNY) 20.34 -0.28 :

4:16PM Harris Corporation guides FY12 above consensus (HRS) 43.55 -0.70 : Co issues upside guidance; co guides FY12 Non-GAAP EPS at $5.10 to $5.20 EPS vs. $5.03 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees revs of $6.4-6.6 bln vs. $6.2 bln consensus. Co sees FY11 EPS of $4.80-4.90 vs $4.89 consensus, sees revs of $~$6.0 bln vs. $6.0 bln consensus. Guidance for both fiscal 2011 and 2012 reflects the inclusion of the Schlumberger Global Connectivity Services business and Carefx acquisitions, which are expected to close in early April 2011. "We expect fiscal year 2012 to be another year of growth in revenue and earnings. "Our core businesses, recent acquisitions, and expansion of our core capabilities into adjacent high-growth markets position us well for fiscal 2012 and beyond."

4:13PM Guess? beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; guides FY12 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (GES) 43.87 -0.54 : Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $1.11 per share, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.06; revenues rose 17.9% year/year to $757 mln vs the $724.9 mln consensus. Operating margin is expected to be around 10.0%. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.41-0.44, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.61 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $555-570 mln vs. $595.63 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $3.30-3.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.50 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY12 revs of $2.720-2.820 bln vs. $2.75 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Operating margin is expected to be between 16.5% and 17.0%. Co also announced a $250 mln share buyback.

4:12PM National Penn Bancshares redeems its entire $150 mln of preferred stock issued under TARP Capital Purchase Program (NPBC) 7.31 -0.13 : Co announced that it redeemed the entire $150 million of National Penn Series B Preferred Stock issued to the U.S. Treasury under its TARP Capital Purchase Program for $150.6 million, including approximately $650,000 of accrued and unpaid dividends. The redemption will eliminate $8 million annually in cash preferred dividends and associated expenses.

4:11PM Fifth Third repurchases warrant from U.S. Department of Treasury (FITB) 13.41 -0.16 : Co announces that it has repurchased the warrant issued to the U.S. Department of Treasury under the TARP Capital Purchase Program. The warrant gave the right to purchase 43,617,747 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp common stock at $11.72 per share. Co and the U.S. Department of Treasury agreed upon a repurchase price of ~$280.0 million for the warrant. U.S. Department of Treasury no longer holds any securities of co under the TARP Capital Purchase Program.

4:09PM Bridge Capital announces that it has completed the redemption of $24.0 million in Series B Preferred Stock issued to the U.S. Treasury under the TARP Capital Purchase Program (BBNK) 9.26 +0.06 :

4:08PM Guess? announces $250 mln share repurchase (GES) :

4:08PM BG Medicine reports Q4 ($1.18) vs. ($1.52) in last year's quarter; revs fell to $199K from $373K (BGMD) 8.30 +0.59 : Co said, "The automated versions of the galectin-3 test are under development by our commercialization partners, Abbott Laboratories, Alere, Siemens, and bioMerieux," continued Dr. Muntendam. "We expect that our partners will begin FDA clearance submissions for their automated versions of the test starting in the fourth quarter of 2011."

4:06PM Natural Resource commences a secondary public offering of 6 million common units representing limited partner interests in Natural Resource Partners L.P. (NRP) 36.48 -0.10 : Co announces the commencement of a secondary public offering of 6 million common units representing limited partner interests in Natural Resource Partners L.P. through an offering. The common units being offered are owned by Adena Minerals. Co will not receive any of the proceeds from this offering and the number of outstanding common units of NRP will remain unchanged.

4:05PM Velti reports Q4 revenue of $57.5 mln compared to $20.6 mln in prior year; reports net income of $0.34 (VELT) 12.16 -0.08 :

4:05PM DR Horton to fully redeem its 5.375% senior notes due 2012 (DHI) 11.68 -0.29 : Co announced that it is calling all of its 5.375% Senior Notes due June 15, 2012 for full redemption on April 15, 2011 in accordance with the terms of the indenture governing the Notes.

4:05PM ChinaCast Education announces $50 mln share buyback (CAST) 5.57 -0.03 :

4:05PM Mediware Info Sys announced that Creative Testing Solutions selected the LifeTrak software to manage blood testing procedures (MEDW) 12.37 +0.20 :

4:04PM Blackboard announces California State University, Chico has selected Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 to replace WebCT Vista as its learning management platform (BBBB) 34.39 +0.10 :

4:02PM Nevada Gold and Casinos reports net revenues increased 155% y/y to $13.3 mln; net income of $0.01 per share comapred to a loss of $0.04 in prior year (UWN) : "We continue to be on track to hit our 2011 calendar year goal of generating approximately $55 to $60 million in pro-forma run-rate revenue subsequent to the addition of the six recently acquired Washington mini-casinos. We also continue to expect that our property level pro-forma EBITDA, adjusted for the normalization of the additional six mini-casinos, will be approximately $7.5 million to $8 million on an annualized basis," said Robert Sturges, CEO of Nevada Gold. "We are in the process of applying for a gaming license in the state of Nevada and continue to be actively reviewing potential acquisition opportunities."

4:02PM Human Genome and FivePrime Therapeutics announce that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize FivePrime's FP-1039 product for multiple cancers (HGSI) 27.41 -0.17 : Co and FivePrime Therapeutics announce that they have entered into an agreement to develop and commercialize FivePrime's FP-1039 product for multiple cancers. FP-1039 is a first-in-class biologic discovered by FivePrime that targets multiple fibroblast growth factor ligands. Under the terms of the agreement, co has acquired rights to develop and commercialize FP-1039 in the United States, Canada and the EU markets, while FivePrime retains minority co-promotion rights in the U.S. and full development and commercialization rights in rest of world territories, including Asia.

4:01PM SL Green Rlty & Vornado (VNO) form joint venture to hold $400 million of debt on 280 Park Avenue (SLG) : SL Green Realty and Vornado Realty Trust have contributed their respective debt positions in the office building located at 280 Park Avenue to a newly formed 50/50 joint venture. The total contributed indebtedness amounts to $400 million. In order to true-up the respective positions, Vornado paid SL Green $111 million and assumed $15 million of SL Green's debt applicable to its position.

4:01PM Herman Miller reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (MLHR) 25.17 -0.42 : Reports Q3 (Feb) earnings of $0.29 per share, in-line with the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.29; revenues rose 25.8% year/year to $414.8 mln vs the $413.1 mln consensus.

3:33PM Kingold Jewelry sees FY10 revenues of $523 mln up 108% YoY (no ests); files form 12b-25 with SEC (KGJI) 2.50 -0.25 : Co expects 2010 revenue to be approximately $523 million, or more than double 2009 reported revenue of $250.5 million. 2010 net income attributable to common stockholders is expected to be approximately $18 million, or more than double the prior year number of $8.7 million. Separately, the Company announced that it has filed Form 12b-25, Notification of Late Filing, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will give the Company until March 31, 2011 to file its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. Upon filing on or before March 31, 2011, the Company's Form 10-K will be deemed to be timely filed. "The additional time required to file the Form 10-K is a direct result of the additional requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to which the Company became subject to for the first time with respect to its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010."

3:11PM TAT Technologies announced that a court order has been entered in the litigation commenced on March 11, 2011 by Piedmont Aviation Component Services (TATT) 5.20 -0.05 : Co announced that a court order has been entered in the litigation commenced on March 11, 2011 by Piedmont Aviation Component Services, its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware against First Aviation Services. The litigation was for breach of contract for failure to provide Piedmont with FAvS's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2010. Piedmont owns approximately 37% of the common stock of FAvS as well as certain of the preferred stock of FAvS. In response to Piedmont's lawsuit, on March 15, 2011 FAvS agreed to provide the Audited Financial Statements and on March 16, 2011 the Delaware court entered an order requiring FAvS to provide the Audited Financial Statements to Piedmont on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on March 28, 2011.

3:00PM CBOT Agriculture and Ethanol and ICE Exchange Sugar Closing Prices (COMDX) : May corn finished down 19.5 cents to $6.165, May wheat fell 5.75 cents to close at $6.62, May soybeans gained 19 cents to close at $12.89, April ethanol closed lower by 0.046 cents at $2.299, while May world sugar futures closed up 0.20 cents to 25.85 cents.

2:50PM ADA-ES expects significant growth in markets for its products and services as a result of the proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (ADES) 16.13 +2.11 : The Air Toxics Rule is expected to create a significant new market for activated carbon injection equipment provided by the Company.

2:41PM Crude oil bouncing, in electronic trade, off of flat line; now up $1.55 to $98.73 (COMDX) :

2:40PM NYMEX Energy Closing Prices (COMDX) : Crude oil settled higher by 80 cents to $97.98, natural gas shed 0.5 cents to close at $3.936, heating oil gained 4.43 cents to close at $2.9981 while RBOB gasoline finished higher by 4.17 cents to $2.8446 (all April contracts).

2:24PM Crude near unchanged with approx 7 min left in pit trade; up 40 cents to $97.58 (COMDX) :

2:20PM Apple continues to sink lower as it begins to dip down into the $327.00 level, just off of its mid Jan pullback lows (AAPL) 327.00 -18.18 : Stock has support up in this area, near $325.00-327.00.

2:13PM Gold, silver give up gains (COMDX) :

* April gold now off 10 to $1392.70.
* May silver lower by 24.7 cents to $33.87.

1:31PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) : April gold ended higher by $3.40 to $1396.20, May silver gained 28.3 cents to finish at $34.40, while May copper closed up 5.6 cents to $4.193.

1:13PM Overland Storage announces oversubscribed private placement financing (OVRL) 1.75 -0.01 : Co has signed definitive agreements for a private placement of 8,722,904 shares of Common Stock of the Company and Warrants to purchase up to 3,838,069 shares of Common Stock for a gross purchase price of ~$15.4 mln on March 16, 2011. The purchase price for one share of Common Stock and a Warrant to purchase 0.44 shares of Common Stock is $1.765. The Warrants will have an exercise price of $1.71 per share, will expire March 21, 2016 and are exercisable in whole or in part, at any time prior to expiration. The transaction is anticipated to close on March 21, 2011 subject to customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and working capital, including the funding of product development and sales and marketing expansion, as well as the repayment of certain indebtedness. Clinton Group, Inc. has agreed to lead the private placement. (stock is halted)

12:38PM Harris, EMC and VCE announce strategic alliance to develop and market trusted cloud solutions (HRS) 43.90 -0.35 : Co announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop and market new trusted multi-tenant cloud solutions to further accelerate the adoption of cloud infrastructure as a service by commercial and government enterprises.

12:32PM Hudbay Minerals announces expiry of offer and additional take-up of Norsemont mining shares (HBM) 15.77 -0.25 : Co has taken up a further 8,166,835 common shares of Norsemont Mining. As a result of taking up an aggregate of 112.8 mln shares deposited under the offer, HudBay currently owns ~98% of the issued and outstanding Norsemont common shares. As previously announced, HudBay intends to acquire all of the remaining Norsemont shares by compulsory acquisition. The co will issue ~1.6 mln common shares and pay ~$9 mln in cash for the additional Norsemont shares that were taken up following expiry of the offer. In aggregate, HudBay has issued ~22 mln common shares and paid ~$128 mln for the Norsemont shares it acquired pursuant to the offer.

12:21PM Misonix announces a definitive agreement for non-exclusive distribution of the BoneScalpel Ultrasonic Bone Cutting System in the United States with Aesculap, which replaces a prior exclusive distribution agreement between the parties (MSON) 2.13 +0.02 :

11:42AM Sinclair Broadcast announces redemption of 6% convertible subordinated debentures (SBGI) 11.80 +0.14 : Co announces that it is has notified the trustee for its 6% Convertible Subordinated Debentures due 2012 that it will redeem, in full, the outstanding $70.0 million aggregate principal amount of Debentures on April 15, 2011. The redemption will be effected in accordance with the terms of the indenture governing the Debentures at a redemption price of 100.00% of the principal amount of the Debentures plus any accrued and unpaid interest. The redemption of the Debentures and payment of accrued interest will be funded from the net proceeds of Sinclair Television Group's recently financed $115.0 million Term Loan A.

11:34AM Gold approaching highs; now up $12.40 tp $1405.20 (COMDX) :

11:07AM Crude approaching flat; now up 16 cents to $97.34 (COMDX) :

11:05AM Globecomm Systems receives increased scope under multi-year contract with a U.S. Government prime contractor (GCOM) 10.02 0.00 : Co received an increase in the total value of a five-year contract from a major U.S. Government prime contractor. During the first four years of the contract $95.0 mln has been authorized by the customer. The customer has now exercised its option to authorize $57 mln for the fifth contract year, bringing the contract total to $152 mln. Each option year requires incremental funding and includes additional options to increase the scope of work.

11:01AM Crude oil dropping quickly from highs as headlines make rounds from EU chief saying that situation at Japan's nuclear plant is out of control (COMDX) : Now up $1.46 to $98.63.

11:01AM Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries establish joint company to perform advanced training aircraft project for the Israeli Air Force (ESLT) 51.35 +0.22 : Co announced the signing of a founder's agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries to establish a joint company and a limited partnership to perform a potential project of purchasing and maintenance of advanced training aircraft, as well as additional services for the Israeli Ministry of Defense. According to the Agreement, the scope of the Project will be divided to the extent possible equally between Elbit Systems and IAI, and if required, balancing arrangements will be established between the two companies.

10:49AM Starwood Hotels' Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers announce a $150 mln renovation project (HOT) 57.59 +0.49 :

10:47AM Nissan Motor issues updated statement regarding status of Japanese earthquake and impact on Nissan Americas Operations (NSANY) 18.00 -0.23 : All Nissan Americas manufacturing facilities remain operational and will continue to operate on a planned production schedule until further notice. Although all plants in Japan, except for the Iwaki engine plant, have been able to repair some damaged facilities and/or equipment, it is still taking time to arrange delivery of parts from suppliers. As for the Iwaki engine plant, with aftershocks still heavily impacting the region, restoration activities are expected to take longer than at other plants... Oppama Plant, Tochigi Plant, Yokohama Plant and Nissan Shatai are suspending operations until March 20. Kyushu Plant and Nissan Shatai Kyushu are resuming production on March 17 and March 18, while inventory of supplies lasts. However, operations after Saturday March 19 are yet to be decided. Nissan's JATCO's Fuji Plant and Fujinomiya Plant, which manufactures transmissions, have reported partial damage to its buildings and equipment. Operations have been suspended and damage is currently being assessed.

10:33AM April WTI to fresh highs at $99.59; now up $2.32 to $99.50 (COMDX) :

10:31AM KIT digital acquires Polymedia, for $34.4 mln; KIT digital management expects the Polymedia acquisition to be accretive (KITD) 6.32 -0.09 : Co signed a definitive agreement to acquire Polymedia for a net consideration of $34.4 mln, plus certain limited performance-based earn outs. All currency figures herein are presented in U.S. dollars. As a standalone entity, Polymedia operates profitably and is expected to initially contribute ~$19 mln in annualized revenue, derived primarily from software licenses, software maintenance fees, and professional services. KIT digital management expects the Polymedia acquisition to be accretive.

10:30AM Crude oil trades back towards highs following inventory data; now up $2.00 to $99.18 (OIH) :

10:30AM Lakeland announces second $20 mln partial CPP repayment (LBAI) 9.49 -0.02 : Co announced that it redeemed $20 mln of the outstanding $39 mln in Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A that was issued to the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Capital Purchase Program on February 6, 2009, thereby reducing Treasury's investment in the Preferred Stock to $19 mln. The Company paid approximately $20.1 mln to the Treasury to repurchase the Preferred Stock, which included payment for accrued and unpaid dividends for the shares. This second repayment, or redemption, of Preferred Stock will result in annualized savings of $1.2 mln due to the elimination of the associated preferred dividends and related discount accretion. A one-time, non-cash charge of $745 thousand will be incurred in the first quarter of 2011 due to the acceleration of the Preferred Stock discount accretion. The warrant previously issued to the Treasury to purchase 997,049 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $8.88, adjusted for stock dividends and subject to further anti-dilution adjustments, will remain outstanding.

10:25AM Nymox Pharma announces positive new results in 7 year study of NX-1207 for benign prostatic hyperplasia (NYMX) 6.48 +0.07 : Co announced new 2011 positive results from a long term outcome study of NX-1207 for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The study evaluated symptomatic change and treatment status of patients involved in the Company's NX02-0012 and NX02-0013 Phase 1-2 U.S. studies of NX-1207 initially undertaken in 2003. The new data indicates that a significant percentage of patients given a single treatment of NX-1207 have now shown sustained improvement in their symptoms without other treatments for over 7 years. There were no indications of any drug safety issues in any of the patients.

10:21AM Energy Focus received $446K order to supply its recently qualified LED lighting fixtures to retrofit two US Navy destroyers (EFOI) 1.02 +0.01 :

10:15AM Sify Technologies Ltd and SAUDI TELECOM announce partnership to serve telecommunication markets (SIFY) 3.09 +0.07 : Co announced their partnership with SAUDI TELECOM to provide customers and partners wider network reach, richer portfolio of services and efficiencies of scale in by leveraging their respective investments in submarine and terrestrial telecom capacities and value added ICT services.

10:11AM Argan wholly owned subsidiary Gemma Power Systems California signs updated EPC Contract for $220 million peaking power project (AGX) 8.51 +0.15 : Co has received a limited release to start critical planning and early engineering activities with a full release later this summer. The project is estimated to be completed in the Summer of 2013.

10:03AM WTI crude to highs; now up $2.06 to $99.24 (COMDX) :

10:02AM StoneMor Partners announces postponement of its investors' conference call and filing of form 10-K (STON) 25.55 -0.38 : Co announced that it was rescheduling its Investors' Conference Call, originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 2011, at 11:00 AM EDT until the date of filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2010, which is expected to occur on or before March 31, 2011. At issue is the accounting treatment of a transaction with the Archdiocese of Detroit in the third quarter of 2010 which has no material effect on our cash distributions or available cash. Co believe's that any potential change in method of accounting would have no material impact on the company's cash flow, distributions or results of operations for the fourth quarter. The contribution of these three locations to the company's operating earnings is not materially significant to StoneMor's results.

10:01AM Virgin Media announces announces results on the repurchase of 420K shares of common stock on 3/15: highest price paid per share was $26.77 and the lowest price paid per share was $25.69 (VMED) 26.71 +0.08 :

9:57AM Silver spikes to new highs; now up 71.3 cents to $34.83 (COMDX) :

9:52AM Opening Point Gainers/Losers (TECHX) : Point Gainers: PANL (+5.31), NFLX (+3.83), SINA (+3.75), CMG (+3.50), PPO (+3.22), OPEN (+3.00), BTU (+2.46), CF (+2.61), VRA (+2.43), PCLN (+3.71), APKT (+2.61), WLT (+2.41)

Point Losers: GOOG (-5.45), AAPL (-5.05), FSLR (-4.59), IBM (-2.61), CAJ (-1.90), ORCC (-1.80), DRN (-1.44), SPG (-1.32), HBC (-1.28), TSL (-1.03)

9:51AM Baldwin Technology confirms earthquake and tsunami caused no injury to employees and no damage to facilities (BLD) 1.57 -0.02 :

9:30AM Repros Therapeutics commences dosing third cohort in low dose Proellex study (RPRX) 5.50 -0.08 : Co announced it has commenced dosing the 6 mg cohort in the Company's low dose study of Proellex following a safety review of data from women that have completed 8 weeks of treatment at a 3 mg dose. No signals of liver toxicity were detected to date in the 3 mg group. Increased levels of drug activity were detected in this second cohort. The Company previously noted that it has observed signals of clinically relevant activity at even the lowest dose, 1 mg.

9:24AM United Tech's subsidiary, Hamilton Sundstrand, and AVIC Electromechanical Systems Co finalized plans to co-develop and manufacture the electric power system for the new Commercial Aviation Corporation of China C919 jetliner (UTX) 79.51 :

9:07AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Intermec (IN) announced the acquisition of Enterprise Mobile, a provider of lifecycle services for mobile devices.
* Magellan Midstream Partners (MMP) announced that it is proceeding with permitting and final engineering for the potential reversal and conversion of a portion of the partnership's Houston-to-El Paso pipeline to crude oil service.
* Marshall Edwards (MSHL) announced that it has received a positive response from the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel indicating that the Company's request for a transfer and continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market has been granted pending verification by the Listing Qualifications Staff.
* Document Security Systems (DMC) announced that it received correspondences from NYSE Amex dated March 15, 2011 confirming that its Additional Listing Applications have been approved by NYSE Amex and that DSS has regained full compliance with NYSE Amex continued listing requirements.
* MS Technologies (ELMG) announced that the co's Defense & Space Division will provide cost-effective L-band communications hardware for Iridium NEXT, Iridium Communications Inc.'s next-generation constellation of low-earth orbiting cross-linked satellites.
* Ameresco (AMRC) announced that the co has signed an agreement with Maine's largest city to provide energy conservation measures to 45 City of Portland facilities including 30 municipal buildings and 15 public schools. Co will implement the $9.4 mln project.
* Verizon (VZ) and SAP America, a subsidiary of SAP AG (SAP), announced that they will jointly deliver the SAP Customer Relationship Management rapid-deployment solution to enterprise workers through Verizon's flagship cloud offering.

9:04AM Southern Co unit Georgia Power plans to decertify two coal generating units (SO) 37.01 : Co announces its unit Georgia Power expects to request approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission to decertify two coal-generating units totaling 569 MWs. The company expects to ask for decertification of the units as of the effective dates of the Georgia Multipollutant Rule, which are currently anticipated to be Dec. 31, 2013 for unit 1 and Oct. 1, 2013 for unit 2. The decision to decertify the units is based on a need to install environmental controls to meet a variety of existing and expected environmental regulations.

9:03AM Primoris Services beats by $0.02, beats on revs (PRIM) 8.59 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.24 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 184.3% year/year to $333.2 mln vs the $281.2 mln consensus (co acquired Reockfoprd in Nov '10). At December 31, 2010, total backlog was $895.8 mln, an increase of $130.5 mln, or 17.1%, from total backlog of $765.3 mln at December 31, 2009. Total backlog declined by $71.7 mln, or 7.4%, from total backlog of $967.5 mln at September 30, 2010. Primoris expects that approximately $527.8 mln, or 59%, of the total backlog at December 31, 2010, will be recognized as revenue in 2011, with $334.2 mln expected for the East Construction segment, $162.7 mln for the West Construction segment, and $30.9 mln for the Engineering segment.

9:01AM Celanese and its Ticona engineering polymers business announced price increase in North and South America for Celanex PBT, Vandar PBT, Impet PET and Riteflex TPC-ET polyesters by $0.20 per pound or higher (CE) 39.98 :

8:58AM Progressive reports Feb results: net premiums written $1.3 bln, +4% YoY; net income per share $0.17, +18% YoY (PGR) 20.29 :

8:39AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Denbury Resources (DNR) announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into two contracts to purchase carbon dioxide from future anthropogenic sources in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. Denbury will purchase 100% of the CO2 captured from the DKRW Advanced Fuels LLC's, Medicine Bow Fuel and Power LLC project in Medicine Bow, Wyoming, and Denbury will also purchase 70% of the CO2 captured from Mississippi Power Company's Kemper County Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle project in Mississippi.
* Mississippi Power, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Company (SO), has initiated construction of a 582 MW IGCC power plant, located in Kemper County, Mississippi. Mississippi Power will capture, clean, compress and deliver an estimated 115 MMcf/d of CO2 to Denbury's Heidelberg Field. First deliveries of CO2 are expected in 2014. IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced a new daily volume record for ICE ECX European Union Allowance futures. On 15 March, 51,638 contracts traded on ICE Futures Europe, surpassing by more than 17% the previous record of 43,885 contracts.
* Integral Systems (ISYS) announced that it has been selected by Intelsat to provide its industry-leading EPOCH Integrated Product Suite satellite command and control software to manage Intelsat's newest satellites.
* American CareSource Holdings (ANCI) announced today that it has executed an agreement with a national Third Party Administrator representing over 140,000 covered lives.

8:38AM HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries to postpone fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 earnings release date (HQS) 3.84 : The postponement in filing is due to delays in compiling information for the preparation of the financial statements. The Company fully expects to be able to file within the additional time allowed by the Form 12b-25 and plans to file as soon as possible following the completion of the audit of the financial statements.

8:36AM First American Financial authorizes $150 mln stock repurchase plan (FAF) 15.97 : Co announced that its board of directors has approved a new stock repurchase plan, which authorizes the repurchase of up to $150 mln of the company's common stock.

8:33AM Great Basin Gold repays senior secured notes with recent Term Loan Facility (GBG) 2.60 : Co announces that it has repaid the 2008 Senior Secured Notes with the proceeds of the previously announced Term Loan Facility from Credit Suisse AG (CS). The facility was increased from $60 mln to $70 mln to maximize leverage from this low-cost facility. The facility has been fully drawn down and has a term of 4 years, is repayable in quarterly installments commencing September 2011, and bears interest at a premium of 3.75% over the 3 month US LIBOR rate.

8:31AM OptionsXpress reports key monthly performance metrics for Feb; reports retail DARTs of 38,300, up 37% YoY (OXPS) 15.02 : Retail daily average revenue trades (DARTs) of 38,300 - 37% higher than February 2010, 6% higher than January 2011... Institutional daily average revenue trades (DARTs) of 14,300 - 7% lower than February 2010, 13% higher than January 2011... Net new customer accounts of 2,700. Ending customer accounts of 385,200 - 9% higher than February 2010, 1% higher than January 2011... Ending client assets of $8.1 billion - 15% higher than February 2010, 3% higher than January 2011... Ending margin balances of $227 million - 29% higher than February 2010, 6% higher than January 2011.

8:31AM IDT Corp will spin-off a portfolio of patents related primarily to communications over computer networks (IDT) 25.44 : IDT shareholders will receive one share in Innovative Communications Technologies, (ICTI) which will consist of the patents and the related licensing business, for every five shares of IDT. Upon completion of the spin-off, ICTI is expected to trade on the over-the-counter market.

8:21AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Sierra Wireless (SWIR) and PositiveID (PSID) announced that Sierra Wireless AirPrime intelligent embedded modules will power PositiveID's iglucose mobile health solution for real-time diabetes management.
* The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) announced that it has filed for SEC approval to list options based on recently-created volatility indexes that track individual stocks, Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Goldman Sachs (GS), Google (GOOG), and IBM (IBM), using CBOE's CBOE Volatility Index methodology. Additionally, CBOE and Standard & Poor's announced the formation of VIX Network, a global network of exchanges with agreements regarding use of CBOE's VIX methodology.
* Barrick Gold (ABX) announced that the federal Bureau of Land Management has issued a Record of Decision approving the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Cortez Hills mine in Nevada. The Record of Decision is effective as of March 15, 2011.

8:16AM Geo Group announces that its newly formed joint venture, GEO Amey PECS, has been awarded three contracts by the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom (GEO) 23.49 : Co announces that its newly formed joint venture, GEO Amey PECS Ltd, has been awarded three contracts by the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom for the provision of prison escort and custody services in Lots 1, 3, and 4 which encompass all of Wales and all of England except London and the East of England. The contract for the provision of prison escort and custody services in the three Lots will have a base term of seven years with a renewal option period of no more than three years and is expected to have an annual revenue value of ~$150 million.

8:12AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* PFSweb (PFSW) announced that its subsidiary, Priority Fulfillment Services , has extended the lease on a 434,900 square foot facility in Southaven, MS from which the Company operates one of its distribution centers.
* Intcomex announced that it has signed an agreement to enter into a strategic alliance with Brightpoint (CELL). Under the terms of the agreement, Brightpoint's wholly-owned subsidiary, Brightpoint Latin America, will invest $15 mln in cash and contribute certain of its Latin American operations, excluding certain legacy business in Puerto Rico.
* Wyndham Hotel Group, part of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (WYN), announced agreements to open and manage a Wyndham hotel in Sanya, China, and a new Wyndham hotel in Thailand, to be developed in Khao Lak.
* Regal Entertainment Group (RGC) announced the addition of two locations for the new giant screen all-digital format branded the Regal Premium ExperienceSM.
* Accelrys (ACCL) announced the signing of a partnership agreement with Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. Under the terms of the partnership, Accelrys and Oxford Nanopore will develop software to enable complex, real-time analyses of experimental data produced by the Oxford Nanopore single molecule analysis system.
* Fossil (FOSL) further their existing relationship to debut the Michael Kors Fall 2011 jewelry collection, offering women's earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings.
* Cancer patients in China will gain access to Varian's cancer care with the announcement that a cancer center is acquiring a GammaMed brachytherapy afterloader from Varian Medical Systems (VAR)

8:10AM Gold, silver continue to push higher (COMDX) :

* April gold now up $12.60 to $1405.40.
* May silver higher by 64.3 cnet sto $34.76.

8:06AM ULURU files 510(k) application to expand Altrazeal's label claim (ULU) 0.06 : Co announces that it has filed an abbreviated 510(k) application with the UFDA to expand Altrazeal's label claim to include the management and mitigation of pain. The principal data supporting this 510(k) application is a randomized clinical study comparing Altrazeal to Acquacel Ag in skin graft donor sites. This amended label claim is also supported by clinical experience using Altrazeal in various wound types including venous leg ulcers, second degree burns, geriatric wounds and numerous less common wound types. In the randomized clinical study Altrazeal when compared to Acquacel Ag showed the following results: At all 3 time points evaluated Altrazeal demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in pain. Patients also reported a statistically significant improvement in comfort. Significant pain reduction has also been reported when Altrazea has been used to treat venous leg ulcers.

8:05AM Fiserv and Visa (V) to extend ZashPay Network, person-to-person payments (FISV) 58.55 : Co announced an agreement with Visa that will enable users of the ZashPay person-to-person payments service from Fiserv to send money to and receive money from eligible Visa account holders through their primary financial institution. This agreement will expand the ZashPay network, with the potential to reach more than 1 billion Visa account holders, and can increase the speed of many payments. Fiserv and its financial institution customers also will have the ability to extend person-to-person payments to eligible international account holders.

8:05AM Earthstone Energy reports year end North Dakota update; co expects to increase capex and production in coming year (ESTE) 17.46 : "The Company continues to pursue its strategy of drilling non-operated horizontal Bakken wells along with the acquisition of producing properties in the Montana and North Dakota portions of the Williston basin. In addition, Earthstone is evaluating two non-Bakken opportunities which could positively impact the Company's reserves and production... Regarding our future plans, the next few months should be exciting. With a number of efforts both underway and in the planning process, we anticipate in the coming year both exceeding last year's capital expenditures and increasing the Company's production and profitability."

8:04AM PHC to acquire MeadowWood Behavioral Health; expected to add ~$15 mln in annual revenue (PHC) 2.50 : Co announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire MeadowWood Behavioral Health, located in New Castle, Delaware, for $21.5 mln, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter of 2011. Expected to add ~$15 mln in annual (TTM) revenue, or approximately a 30% increase over FY 2010 revenues. The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter of 2011.

8:03AM Covidien CEO to retire July; co's Board elects Jose Almeida President and CEO (COV) 51.09 : Co announces Richard Meelia will retire as President and CEO of the co, effective July 1. Meelia will serve as Non-Executive Chairman for a transition period of up to one year following his retirement as CEO. The Board also announced that Jose Almeida, President of Covidien's Medical Devices business segment, has been elected to succeed Meelia as President and CEO.

8:02AM Amylin Pharma and Takeda voluntarily suspend clinical activities in obesity trial (AMLN) 11.03 : Co and Takeda Pharmaceutical announced that they have suspended clinical activities in an ongoing Phase 2 study examining the safety and effectiveness of the investigational combination therapy pramlintide/metreleptin for the treatment of obesity. The clinical study was voluntarily halted to investigate a new antibody-related laboratory finding with metreleptin treatment in two patients who participated in a previously completed clinical study of obesity.

8:01AM RIT Technologies carries out $1.175 mln debt-to-equity conversion transaction (RITT) 4.75 : Co announces that it has signed a private Share Purchase Agreement with STINS COMAN Inc, its principal shareholder, under which it will convert an outstanding loan in the amount of ~$1.175 million into 408,787 of the Company's ordinary shares at an average price of $2.876 per share.

8:00AM SinoHub announces $11 mln registered direct offering at $2.30 per share (SIHI) 2.56 : Co announced that it has entered into definitive agreements with a select number of institutional investors to sell 4,791,097 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to 1,437,329 shares of common stock in a registered direct offering. The common stock will be sold at a negotiated purchase price of $2.30 per share, and each purchaser will receive a warrant to purchase 0.3 shares of common stock for each share of common stock that it purchases in the offering. Rodman & Renshaw, served as the exclusive placement agent for the offering. Global Hunter Securities, acted as financial advisor for the offering.

7:41AM Gold, silver also trade to their best levels of the morning (COMDX) :

* April gold now higher by $9.30 to $1402.10.
* May silver currently up 42.3 cents to $34.54

7:41AM Endeavour Intl announces the commencement of an underwritten public offering of 8.0 million shares of its common stock (END) 12.27 : Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to retire all $81.3 million of its 6% Convertible Senior Notes due 2012. Any remaining net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering.

7:39AM Crude oil trades to fresh highs; now up $1.78 to $98.96 (COMDX) :

7:34AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Beacon Power Corporation (BCOND) announced that Nasdaq has determined to continue the listing of the Company's securities on The Nasdaq Capital Market.
* Regency Centers (REG) announced the opening of three newly developed grocery-anchored centers totaling 263,000 square feet - Market at Colonnade in Raleigh, NC, Harris Crossing in Wake Forest, NC and NorthGate Village in Greeley, CO. The three properties combined represent an investment of $41 million.
* Cabot Corp. (CBT) plans to invest more than US$180 million between now and 2013 to expand manufacturing capacity in some of the fastest growing regions of the world, company officials announced today.
* PepsiCo (PEP) and Strauss Group announced their commitment to form a joint venture partnership that will produce and sell fresh dips and spreads in key markets outside of North America

7:31AM Zogenix receives extension of SUMAVEL DosePro U.S. patent protection by 8 years (ZGNX) 4.66 : Co announces that a recently issued a patent which covers the co's branded migraine treatment, SUMAVEL DosePro Needle-free Delivery System, has been listed in FDA Orange Book. This patent is not expected to expire until 2025, eight years after any of the previous listed patents for SUMAVEL DosePro.

7:30AM Mortons Restaurant Group exploring strategic alternatives (MRT) 6.44 : Co announced that, with the support of affiliates of Castle Harlan and Laurel Crown Partners, its two largest current shareholders, the Board of Directors has authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, which may include a potential sale of the Company. The Board of Directors has retained Jefferies as its financial advisor to assist in this process. The Company has not set a definitive timetable for completing its exploration of strategic alternatives and there can be no assurance that the process will result in any transaction. The Company does not intend to disclose further developments during this process, unless and until its Board of Directors approves a specific transaction or otherwise concludes the review of strategic alternatives.

7:12AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* AMB Property Corporation (AMB) announced the formation of AMB China Logistics Venture I. The venture's investment strategy is to develop, acquire, own, operate and dispose of logistics properties in key markets in China. The venture is currently targeting investments of up to $1.1 billion over the next four years.
* Tessera Technologies (TSRA) announced that the System LSI Division of Samsung Electronics Co has licensed Tessera's OptiML Zoom image enhancement solution, which provides high quality 3X zoom capabilities, without moving parts, for miniature cameras.
* Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) announced that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has granted Achillion U.S. Patent No. 7,906,619, covering composition-of-matter and method of use claims for ACH-1625 and structurally related compounds.
* DTE Energy (DTE) officials will address questions regarding Detroit Edison's Fermi 2 Power Plant in light of the damage caused to Japanese nuclear power plants by the recent earthquake and tsunami. When: 10 a.m., Wednesday, March 16.
* Lionsgate (LGF) announced its groundbreaking deal with Groupon to sell tickets and expand online visibility for the Lionsgate and Lakeshore Entertainment thriller The Lincoln Lawyer

7:04AM FX Energy sets 2011 capital budget and drilling program; capex of 2011 to be $60-70 mln (FXEN) 7.19 : Co announces a capital budget for 2011 estimated at between $60 and $70 million. This budget is equal to all of the Company's capital expenditures over the last three years. The increase is a direct result of the planned increase in drilling activity. In 2011, the Company plans to drill one well in its Kutno concession, up to three wells in its Warsaw South concession, and up to three more wells in PGNiG's Fences concession, all in Poland. In the US the Company has initiated a program to determine the Bakken shale oil potential in its operated Montana properties. Drilling expenditures are expected to make up more than half of the budget, seismic ~one-third, and production facilities the remainder. Seismic will focus on the Fences and Warsaw South concessions, but will also cover the Northwest, Edge and Block 246 concessions with a view toward possible drilling in 2012.

7:01AM China Education Alliance purchases 60% of equity interests of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School (CEU) 1.50 : Co announces that it purchased 60% of the equity interests of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School for RMB35,000,000 (~$5,326,195). This acquisition is advantageous to co's comprehensive integration of its training programs. Tianlang currently has 5,000 students and generates an annual profit of RMB10 mln (~$1,521,770).

7:01AM S & T Bancorp revises Q4 EPS to $0.31 from $0.41 as a modification of a participation loan had not been properly recorded in 2Q10 (STBA) 21.51 : Co announces a revision to its previously reported full year 2010 and fourth quarter earnings. Subsequent to the earnings release on January 31, 2011, S&T determined that a modification of a participation loan had not been properly recorded in the second quarter of 2010. As a result, additional provision for loan losses was recorded in 4Q10, co revises Q4 EPS to $0.31 from $0.41, FY10 EPS to $1.34 from $1.44. As a result of an evaluation, mgmt identified a material weakness in S&T's internal control over financial reporting related to the approval and recording of loan charge-offs as of December 31, 2010. Management is taking the necessary steps to remediate this material weakness.

7:01AM Patterson Companies to increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.12 per share from $0.10 per share; intend to buy back ~$150 million of PDCO common stock over the next 12 months under new share repurchase authorization (PDCO) 31.42 :

6:33AM Sterling Construction beats by $0.40, beats on revs (STRL) 12.97 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.40 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.14; revenues rose 92.5% year/year to $138 mln vs the $96.6 mln consensus. "While we are naturally pleased with the results for 2010, we do not see market conditions improving any time soon. Continued deferral of new federal funding legislation or reductions in federal funding could negatively impact the states' highway and bridge construction expenditures for fiscal years 2011 and beyond, particularly for two-to-four year construction projects, and we are unable to predict when or on what terms the federal government might enact legislation to give the states more visibility in funding projects."

6:25AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and SkyPower Limited announced agreed to build a 10.5 MW solar park in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest solar power companies.
* Avanxo announced that it has joined SuccessFactors' (SFSF) Partner Program as a Strategic SuccessSales partner.



6:17AM Harvest Natural beats by $0.03; beats on revs (HNR) 15.19 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS of $0.08, excluding exploration and non-recurring charges, vs $0.05 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs of $2.7 mln vs 2.4 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

6:11AM Vantage Drilling misses by $0.04; beats on revs (VTG) 1.88 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS of ($0.05) vs ($0.01) Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 120% YoY to $84.9 mln vs $70.2 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

6:05AM General Steel beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (GSI) 2.44 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.03; revenues rose 5.9% year/year to $478.6 mln vs the $481.4 mln consensus. Co reports Q4 Gross Margin improves 600 bpsYoY to 9.0%.

5:20AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Dole Food (DOLE) announced that the Los Angeles Superior Court issued its final order in Tellez v. Dole. The Statement of Decision formally vacates an earlier judgment and dismisses with prejudice the lawsuit brought by Nicaraguan plaintiffs claiming to have been banana workers on Dole-contracted farms in Nicaragua during the 1970s.
* CBOE Holdings (CBOE) announced that trading volume in options based on the CBOE Volatility Index and futures based on VIX at the CBOE Futures Exchange both established new single-day volume records.
* TransCanada (TRP) confirmed that the regulatory process for the Keystone XL pipeline has now entered the final stages of review by the U.S. Department of State.
* Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG) submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission records for pressure tests or historical operating pressure on more than 90 percent of its 1,805 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines in high-consequence areas.
* MoneyGram International (MGI) said it intends to extend its market presence in Malaysia.
* WNS (WNS) announced that it has been appointed as a preferred vendor with Star Alliance to perform audit and revenue protection services for its member airlines.
* iPass (IPAS) announced a partnership with Nomad Digital Limited, a leading global provider of train-to-shore data connectivity solutions.
* ShangPharma (SHP) announced that its wholly-owned contract research subsidiary, Shanghai ChemPartner, has signed an outsource research service agreement with Shenogen Pharma Group to develop therapeutic monoclonal antibodies targeting the ER-alpha 36 receptor for cancer treatment.

4:14AM Trimble Navigation enters into definitive agreement to acquire OmniSTAR Business Assets for land applications; financial terms not disclosed (TRMB) 45.98 : Co announces it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets related to the OmniSTAR Global Navigation Satellite System signal corrections business from Fugro N.V. The acquisition is expected to significantly expand co's worldwide ability to provide correction services for land-based agriculture, construction, mapping and Geographic Information System and survey applications.

4:12AM Volvo reports 17,862 truck deliveries for Feb 2011; up 49% YoY (VOLVY) 15.45 :

4:10AM Ameron Int'l CEO writes letter to shareholders; urges shareholders to discard any white proxy card received from Barrington (AMN) 71.73 : Co's CEO sends a letter to shareholders. In summary, CEO states Barington is running a disruptive and costly proxy contest that he believes threatens to hinder the progress of the co and destroy stockholder value. He urges shareholders to discard any white proxy card they receive from Barington and to vote on the gold proxy card from co to re-elect the Board's nominees.

3:46AM China Nepstar Chain Drugstore misses by $0.01; revs in-line (NPD) 4.07 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS per ADS of $0.02 vs $0.03 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 1% YoY to $95.0 mln vs $94.4 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Same store sales (for 2,078 stores opened before December 31, 2008) for the fourth quarter of 2010 declined by 1.1% compared to the same period in 2009.

3:21AM China Nepstar Chain Drugstore appoints CEO and COO (NPD) 4.07 : Co announces the appointments of Acting CEO, Jason Xinghua Wu, as the co's CEO, and Fuxiang Zhang as the co's COO, both effective immediately. Zhang joined co in 1997 and has been a vice president since 2006.

3:18AM AEGON N.V. repurchases EUR750 mln of Core Capital Securities (AEG) 7.16 : Co announces it repurchased EUR750 mln convertible core capital securities from the Dutch State. The payment to the Dutch government amounts to EUR 1.125 bln: EUR 750 mln for repurchase of EUR187.5 mln convertible core capital securities and EUR375 mln premium. Including this latest repurchase, co has repurchased EUR2.25 bln core capital from the Dutch State.

3:15AM Volvo appoints Olof Persson CEO (VOLVY) 15.45 : Co announces its Board has decided to appoint Olof Persson, currently President of Volvo Construction Equipment, as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of co.

3:13AM LM Ericsson issues statement on situation in Japan; not expected to have material impact on 1Q11 sales (ERIC) 11.70 : Co issues statement with regard to Japan's earthquake. Co states Japan is a large supplier to the global market for semiconductors and other components and it is reasonable to expect an effect on supply, but it is too early to say to what extent. Co states the situation in Japan is not expected to have material impact on co's 1Q11 sales.

3:09AM Ampal-American Israel: EMG's gas supply to Israel has resumed (AMPL) 2.02 : Co announces that it was advised by East Mediterranean Gas, in which co has a 12.5% interest, that commercial gas supply to EMG, and subsequently to EMG's Israeli customers, has resumed. EMG has further advised that according to technical protocols, the initial quantities of gas supplied to EMG are less than the contractual quantities and will ramp up on a daily basis to reach full contractual quantities.

2:15AM 3SBIO misses by $0.01; beats on revs; sees FY11 revs in-line with consensus (SSRX) 15.53 : Reports Q4 (Dec) EPS of $0.05 vs $0.06 Thomson Reuters consensus; revs increased 36.2% YoY to $15.3 mln vs $14.4 mln Thomson reuters consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11 (Dec), sees FY11 (Dec) revs of $76-82 mln vs. $77.73 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

1:42AM Dresser-Rand secures $1 bln of new bank financing; authorizes $275 mln accelerated stock buyback (DRC) 50.31 : Co announces it has obtained bank commitments totaling $1 bln comprising a $600 mln revolving credit agreement and a $400 mln term facility. The co also entered into a $275 mln accelerated stock buyback with Goldman, Sachs (GS)

1:40AM Key Energy expires and provides final results of tender offer for its 8 3/8% Senior Notes due 2014 (KEG) 14.91 : Co announces the expiration and final results of the previously announced cash tender offer for up to $425 mln aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 8 3/8% Senior Notes due 2014. According to the Depositary and Information Agent for the Offer, $421,427,000 in aggregate principal amount of Notes, or ~99.16%, were validly tendered and not withdrawn.

1:34AM SLM Corp extends deadline for Notes Tendered and announces early results of its Cash Tender Offers (SLM) 14.24 : Co announces that it has elected to extend the deadline, which was previously set at 5:00 p.m. New York City Time on March 15, 2011 to March 29, 2011. Co also announces it received tenders of securities subject to the Any and All Offer totaling $155,656,000 and tenders of securities subject to the Dutch Auction Offer totaling $584,338,000.

1:30AM Nexen provides Long Lake Project update; Feb production averaged ~23,100 bbls/d (NXY) 25.52 : Co announces that for the month of February production from its Long Lake project averaged ~23,100 bbls/d gross (15,000 bbls/d net to co) vs January production which averaged 27,000 bbls/d. The production decrease primarily reflects a 10 day maintenance shutdown of one of the hot lime softening units along with maintenance on several well pad facilities performed concurrently to reduce impact.

1:22AM Key Energy provides February 2011 activity data; Total rig hours increased 1.8% YoY; down 10.4% sequentially (KEG) 14.91 : Co provides February 2011 activity data. The data points are as followed:

* U.S. Rig hours were down 10.7% MoM; +4.6% YoY
* U.S. Rig Hours Per Working Day: -6.2% MoM; +4.6% YoY
* International Rig Hours: -9.4% MoM; -7.5% YoY
* Total Rig Hours were 156,998; -10.4% MoM; 1.8% YoY
* Total Trucking Hours: -11.6% MoM; 49.2% YoY
* Total Trucking Hours Per Calendar Day: -2.2% MoM; 49.2% YoY

1:19AM Eldorado Gold updates mineral resources and reserves gold reserves; reserves increase by 24% to 18.7 mln ounces (EGO) 15.18 : Co provides update of its Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves as of December 31, 2010. Resources in all categories have increased by 14% while reserves have increased by 24%. The majority of the reserve increase has come from the Kisladag mine, which now has a reserve in excess of 10 mln ounces. In addition, the Tocantinzinho project has been added to the co's reserves and resources, and the Beyinhar Project deleted as a result of its sale in 2010.

1:16AM RAIT Invtmt Trust prices $100 mln of Convertible Senior Notes due 2031 (RAS) 2.33 : Co intends to use ~$75 mln of the net proceeds from the Notes offering to repurchase a portion of its outstanding 6.875% Convertible Senior Notes due 2027, and the remainder of the net proceeds to repay indebtedness and for general trust purposes, including working capital.

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