Options Wonderland

[3xBuBu]

Market Update: 110620
4:20 pm : Renewed concerns about the fiscal future of Greece caused stocks to wobble before some broad buying gave the major equity averages some solid gains in afternoon action. Although some sellers tried to fade the advance in the final hour of trade, stocks were still able to settle with solid gains.

With European Union finance ministers calling on Greece to pass new austerity measures and the country's prime minister losing confidence, participants were inclined to sell stocks this morning. The euro was also put under pressure; it fell more than half of a percent against the greenback before it rallied back for a fractional gain.

Stocks also garnered support as traders showed a willingness to brush aside concerns related to Greece. Buying became broad in that nine of the 10 major sectors traded with solid gains for most of the session. Financials made up the only major sector that split its time between positive and negative territory before the group settled with a slight loss.

Financials recovered from morning losses for a time, but the sector was ultimately weighed down by a bevy of investment banks and diversified financial services stocks that had their targets and estimates cut by analysts at Citigroup. PNC Financial (PNC 56.66, -1.13) was actually one of the worst plays in the financial space following news that it will pay about $3.5 billion for the U.S. retail banking operations of RBC.

An empty economic calendar may have cut into the number of cues available to traders, but that has helped direct focus toward the FOMC's mid-week policy statement. The statement takes on added significance with the expiration of the Fed's second round of quantitative easing sets to expire soon. World markets are also wondering what the Fed has planned amid the precarious conditions that currently loom over countries in the eurozone periphery.

Advancing Sectors: Health Care (+1.0%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.9%), Materials (+0.8%), Industrials (+0.8%), Consumer Staples (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.6%), Utilities (+0.6%), Energy (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.1%)DJ30 +76.02 NASDAQ +13.18 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.9% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +6.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1451/1.64 bln/1104 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2029/786 mln/967

3:30 pm : It was a relatively quiet session for commodities, as the dollar chopped around the flat line. July crude oil finished up 0.3% to $93.26 per barrel. It recouped overnight losses after the dollar gave back its overnight gains, but was unable to extend that rebound much above the flat line, closing with modest gains. July natural gas ended up 0.2% to $4.33 per MMBtu.

August gold ended higher by 0.2% to $1542 per ounce, while July silver closed up 0.8% to $36.03 per ounce. Both metals spent most of the session chopping around the flat line. They eventually traded into positive territory, but were unable to take out earlier highs and finished with modest gains on the session. DJ30 +58.16 NASDAQ +8.73 SP500 +4.40 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1296/1.3 bln/1236 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1852/542.7 mln/1143

3:00 pm : Stocks have stemmed their afternoon descent, and while they have reclaimed some of their gains, they remain shy of session highs.

The dollar continues to drift along in a tight trading range. It had been up solidly this morning, but as currency traders began to brush aside concerns about Greece's precarious fiscal position, the euro rebounded at the dollar's expense. In turn, the Dollar Index has been mired near the neutral line for the past several hours. DJ30 +76.33 NASDAQ +15.43 SP500 +7.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 425/1.15 bln/1109 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1957/465 mln/1025

2:30 pm : Although financials have been a source of broad market weakness in recent action, few of the other sectors have actually displayed leadership. That has left the major equity averages to drift to new afternoon lows during the course of the past couple of hours. The generally listless action comes on a day with neither major corporate announcements nor economic data. Although the economic calendar is empty today, the calendar for the rest of this week is highlighted by the latest FOMC policy statement, which takes on added significance as the Fed's second round of quantitative easing sets to expire and world markets wonder what will come of Greece's troubled fiscal state.DJ30 +66.94 NASDAQ +12.43 SP500 +6.12 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1375/1.06 bln/1132 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1898/425 mln/1075

2:00 pm : The stock market has surrendered some more of its gain, but underlying strength remains broad. In fact, financials, down 0.2%, make up the only major sector that has failed to remain in positive territory. Within the financial sector, Wells Fargo (WFC 26.78, -0.55) is the worst performer by percent lost, while Janus Capital (JNS 9.42, +0.20) is the sector's top percentage gainer.DJ30 +57.18 NASDAQ +12.38 SP500 +5.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1395/985 mln/1112 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1896/389 mln/1050

1:30 pm : Stocks have eased off of their daily highs in recent trade, but they continue to sport solid gains for the session.

Commodities are more mixed. Despite a 0.3% decline in oil prices, which were last quoted at $92.75 per barrel, the CRB Commodity Index is up 0.2%. The mixed action comes as the dollar trades flat against a collection of competing currencies.

Meanwhile, Treasuries continue to trade with moderate weakness, which has the yield on the 10-year Note near, but still below, 3.00%. DJ30 +69.40 NASDAQ +15.61 SP500 +6.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1452/915 mln/1049 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1935/360 mln/1011

1:00 pm : Concerns about the challenges of remedying Greece's precarious fiscal position put pressure on stocks ahead of the open, but the tone of trade has gradually improved so that stocks are now up solidly.

Early trade was choppy and somewhat listless, but some passive buying interest helped prop up the major market averages for the first hour. Support has since broadened to take consumer discretionary plays, industrial issues, health care stocks, and telecom names up by approximately 1%.

Financials have had a hard time sustaining gains, however. The sector managed to recover from a fall in the early going, but its fractional gain has left it trailing the overall market. Investment banks and diversified financial services stocks have been pressured after analysts at Citigroup cut estimates and price targets on several names in the space. Several regional banks are also weak amid news that PNC Financial (PNC 56.50, -1.29) it will acquire for approximately $3.5 billion the U.S. retail banking unit of RBC.

Overall market strength has helped temper volatility, which had spiked sharply late in last week's trade. The Volatility Index was last quoted with a 7% loss.

Strength among stocks and waning volatility has caused some traders to rotate out of Treasuries. Despite that, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note remains below 3.00%. DJ30 +70.54 NASDAQ +17.02 SP500 +6.79 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1488/830 mln/1008 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1941/325 mln/989

12:30 pm : A gradually improving tone of trade has taken the three major equity averages up to their best levels of the day. Their gains are all of similar order.

Treasuries are down in response to strength among stocks. The benchmark 10-year Note is now at its lowest level of the day. Still, its yield remains below the 3.00% mark. DJ30 +85.18 NASDAQ +18.79 SP500 +8.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1474/750 mln/995 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2005/300 mln/930

12:00 pm : Europe's major bourses were all down roughly 1% or more this morning, but they were able to pare losses into the close. In turn, Germany's DAX settled the day with a loss of just 0.2%. Meanwhile, France's CAC closed with a loss of 0.6%. Britain's FTSE fell 0.4% for the session.

The euro had also traded with weakness in the early going, but it has since rallied so that it now trades at $1.432, which makes for a 0.3% lead over the U.S. dollar.

Initial weakness among Europe's major market averages and the euro was largely underpinned by concerns about Greece's fiscal future. Although those fears have faded with the progression of today's trade, problems related to Greece's precarious financial position persist. DJ30 +87.34 NASDAQ +14.63 SP500 +7.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1409/660 mln/1054 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1953/260 mln/957

11:30 am : Select semiconductor stocks are getting slapped with another round of concerted selling pressure. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 6.77, -0.23) and Broadcom (BRCM 30.88, -0.73) are among the hardest hit names in the space. General weakness in the semiconductor space has weighed on the broader tech sector. In turn, the overall tech sector is mired at the flat line. It is the only major sector that hasn't put together any kind of a gain.DJ30 +79.35 NASDAQ +8.04 SP500 +6.77 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1277/553 mln/1152 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1876/215 mln/1006

11:00 am : The major equity averages are up with varied gains after a relatively choppy first hour of action.

Materials stocks had displayed early leadership, but the sector was recently backed down to the flat line. It has since rebounded to a 0.5% gain, but that is still shy of the heights that it reached in the early going. Consumer staples stocks continue to attract support, though. The sector is now up 0.7%, which makes it the top performing sector of the day.

Financials had been an early source of weakness, but the group has since bounced to a modest gain of 0.3%. The sector's improved position is partly attributable to strength in consumer lending plays like Capital One (COF 50.31, +1.47) and Discover Financial (DFS 23.74, +0.65). DJ30 +58.65 NASDAQ +4.85 SP500 +4.54 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1147/433 mln/1241 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1743/166 mln/1140

10:35 am : The dollar index has pulled back again, which has provided some strength to select commodities.

Crude oil futures have been in the red all session, excluding a brief push into positive territory earlier. Crude extended its uptrend when pit trading began as it gained about $1/barrel in the first 13 minutes of trade to rise break through the $93 level. In current, activity, the energy component is 0.3% lower at $92.75/barrel.

Natural gas broke back into positive territory about 45 minutes ago and is showing modest gains after trading in negative territory in the overnight session. Nat gas is now at $4.35/MMBtu, up 0.7%.

Gold and silver quickly trended upwards as pit trading earlier, until pushing into positive territory. Gold was trading near session highs of $1546.40 for over an hour, but just fell back near the unchanged line minutes ago. Silver rallied early along with gold, but has had a more gradual downtrend off it's earlier highs of $36.13/oz. Currently, gold is down 20 cents at $1538.90/oz and silver is down 0.1% at $35.70/oz.DJ30 +33.91 NASDAQ +1.68 SP500 +1.28 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1159/287.7 mln/1197 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1459/110.1 mln/1246

10:00 am : After a brief pause at the neutral line, the stock market has ticked up to an incremental gain. Materials stocks remain the top performing sector; they are up 0.6%, as a group. Favor for materials-related issues remains broad, too. In fact, only a handful of basic materials plays has failed to find higher ground -- Vulcan Materials (VMC 38.60, -0.27), Ball Corp (BLL 37.67, -0.15), and Owens-Illinois (OI 25.49, -0.09) are the sector's more recognizable laggards.DJ30 +25.73 NASDAQ +6.29 SP500 +1.47 NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1201/1069 NYSE Adv/Dec 1589/1123

09:45 am : Stocks have made an upward push in the opening minutes so that the major averages are now at the flat line. Materials stocks (+0.4%) and consumer staples plays (+0.3%) are early leaders, but their efforts have been undermined by pronounced weakness in the financial sector (-0.7%).

Among materials-related plays, steel stocks are sporting impressive gains. U.S. Steel (X 41.56, +0.49) is a leader among its peers after the stock set an eight-month low in the final session of last week. Whole Foods (WFMI 56.95, +1.26) is a leader among consumer staples, thanks partly to an analyst upgrade. As for financials, the sector has been dragged down by sharp losses among heavyweights like Bank of America (BAC 10.56, -0.12) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 40.25, -0.55). DJ30 +10.89 NASDAQ +4.64 SP500 +0.68 NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1192/1036 NYSE Adv/Dec 1552/1122

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +0.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -11.80. Stock futures are off of their premarket lows so that a mixed start to trade now looks likely. Initial weakness this morning came amid ongoing uncertainty regarding Greece's precarious fiscal condition and the difficulty of implementing appropriate remedies. Europe's major bourses have been hit especially hard by concerns over the matter; in turn, the continent's most widely followed averages are all down by about 1% or more. The euro has rallied back from an overnight loss against the greenback, though. In turn, the euro was last quoted with a fractional gain at $1.430. A downturn by the dollar has coincided with an upturn in the price of crude oil, which opened pit trade with a loss of roughly 1%, but was recently quoted with a loss of only 0.2% at $92.80 per barrel.

09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.30. Crude oil prices are being clipped in the first couple of minutes of pit trade; the commodity was last quoted at $92.10 per barrel, which makes for a 1.0% loss. Natural gas prices are currently up one penny to $4.334 per MMBtu. As for precious metals, gold prices are down fractionally to $1536.90 per ounce while silver is off by 0.4% to $35.60 per ounce. General weakness in the commodity complex has the CRB Commodity Index down by 0.4%.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -2.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -15.30. Widespread weakness among Europe's major bourses has the EuroStoxx 50 down 0.8%, which puts the Index at a new three-month low. The downturn comes after eurozone officials failed to put into place new measures to stabilize Greece's tenuous financial state, leaving the country's fiscal future shrouded in uncertainty. Among the more widely followed bourses, Germany's DAX is down 1.1%. RWE AG and Commerzbank are its two worst performing components. Volkswagen is leading a short list of issues to incremental gains. France's CAC has fallen to a 1.3% loss. All 40 of its components have retreated into the red; nearly half of the lot is grappling with a loss of at least 2%. Britain's FTSE is off by 0.9%. Nearly 90% of its names are in negative territory, but financial plays Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Group (LYG) are among the heaviest drags on the FTSE. In economic data, the eurozone current deficit for April totaled 5.1 billion euros, which is greater than the downwardly revised deficit of 3.1 billion euros recorded for the prior month.

The latest action in Asia was largely lackluster. Japan's Nikkei logged a flat finish that saw Chubu Electric Power and Kansai Electric Power spike more than 7%. Panasonic put together a modest gain. It recently issued downside earnings guidance for fiscal 2012. Sony (SNE) settled as one of the worst performers; it fell almost 3%. Japan's latest data indicate that the country's trade balance for May improved to almost 854 billion yen from about 465 billion yen in the prior month. Its final Leading Index reading eased to 96.2 from the 96.4 posted in the preliminary report. Hong Kong's Hang Seng extended its slide to a new nine-month low. Property plays encountered some of the harshest selling pressure. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite closed with a 0.8% loss, which marked an extension of its downtrend. Financial issues generally led the way lower in the latest round of trade.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -17.30. The S&P 500 is coming off of its first weekly advance since April. However, the net gain was only incremental, so renewed weakness this morning is threatening to offset that move. Premarket pressure comes in response to rekindled selling interest abroad, where lackluster action in Asia has been followed by widespread weakness among Europe's major bourses amid ongoing uncertainty regarding the fiscal future of Greece. With such uncertainty at hand, the euro is down against the dollar; the currency was last quoted with a 0.4% loss at $1.422. There is little else for early traders to digest this morning -- no market-moving corporate announcements have been made and the economic calendar is empty.

06:57 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: -2.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -15.00.

06:57 am : Nikkei...9354.32...+2.90...0.00. Hang Seng...21599.51...-95.80...-0.40%.

06:57 am : FTSE...5679.09...-19.70...-0.40%. DAX...7092.97...-71.10...-1.00%.

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

6:24PM Accuride Corp acquires Forgitron Technologies LLC (ACW) 12.19 -0.11 : Co announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Forgitron Technologies LLC, a portfolio company of Kamylon Capital. These assets include an 80,000-square-foot forged aluminum wheel manufacturing facility located in Camden, South Carolina. Accuride plans to convert the production of the facility to Accuride-branded aluminum wheels for the commercial vehicle market.

6:14PM GOL announces financial settlement of VRG Linhas Aereas S.A. non-convertible debentures (GOL) 11.61 +0.19 : Co announces that the financial settlement of VRG's 5th issue of simple, non-convertible unsecured debentures, with limited placement efforts and a firm guarantee took place today. The financing has a total term of six years.

6:04PM Frontier Oil announces intent to voluntarily delist from the NYSE pending merger with Holly Corp (HOC) (FTO) 31.07 +0.96 : Co announced that it has submitted written notice to the New York Stock Exchange of its intention to voluntarily delist its common stock, no par value, from the NYSE pending successful closing of the merger of Frontier with Holly Corp. Pending the Closing, Frontier intends to have the NYSE file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on July 1, 2011 to delist its common stock. Also pending the Closing, Frontier intends to file a Form 15 with the SEC on or about July 11, 2011 in order to terminate the registration of the common stock.

5:48PM DST Systems acquires Subserveo (DST) 50.80 -0.30 : Co announced that it has acquired Subserveo, a Vancouver, B.C.-based provider of automated compliance and surveillance solutions to broker-dealers and investment advisors throughout the U.S. and Canada. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

5:39PM ATP expands and closes $172.5 mln public offering of 8.0% convertible perpetual preferred stock (ATPG) 15.35 -0.34 : Co announced that it has upsized and closed its previously announced public offering of Series B 8.0% convertible perpetual preferred stock. Prior to this placement closing and pursuant to the underwriting agreement, the underwriters exercised their option to purchase 225,000 additional shares of convertible perpetual preferred stock to cover over-allotments. The exercise of the over-allotment expanded the transaction from 1.5 mln shares to 1.725 mln shares. In conjunction with the expanded offering, ATP also expanded the capped call spread to cover all 14.1 mln shares that are eligible for conversion in this transaction as well as the shares convertible in the original Sept 2009 convertible perpetual preferred series. The cost of the capped call spread was $26.5 mln or ~$1.88 per common share eligible for conversion under both preferred stock series. The impact of the capped call spread is to prevent any dilution of common shares up to a price per common share of $27.50. The Series B preferred priced at $90 per share, ~$4.50 per share less than the most recently available indicated price for the privately traded preferred series issued in September 2009. After the discount, fees of the issue and cost of the capped call transaction, net proceeds were $123.6 mln.

5:34PM United Community Banks (UCBID) announces conversion of preferred stock into common stock (UCBI) 10.25 +0.05 : Co announced that its $195.9 mln Series F Mandatorily Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock and $151.2 mln Series G Mandatorily Convertible Perpetual Preferred Stock will convert into 20,618,090 shares of United's common stock and 15,914,188 shares of United's non-voting common stock, respectively, as of the close of business on June 20, 2011. The preferred stock was originally issued to certain institutional investors as part of United's $380 mln private placement completed on March 30, 2011.

5:11PM United Tech reports that its subsidiary, Hamilton Sundstrand, was select to be a supplier to Boeing (BA) (UTX) 85.54 +0.97 : Boeing has selected Hamilton Sundstrand as a supplier to the Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling tanker. Hamilton Sundstrand is a subsidiary of United Technologies (UTX). Hamilton Sundstrand will supply the KC-46's environmental control system, electric power generation system, emergency ram air turbine system, fans and engine bleed air system, engine controls and accessories, bleed air leak detection system, and the engine/auxiliary power unit fire detection and overheat detection system.

5:08PM Lawson Software gives notice of anticipated fundamental change and right to convert to holders of Its 2.50% senior convertible notes due 2012 (LWSN) 11.18 +0.02 : Co notified holders of its 2.50% Senior Convertible Notes due 2012 that a merger of the Co as described below is expected to occur on or after July 1, 2011. If the merger occurs, it will constitute a Fundamental Change under the Indenture governing the Notes (the "Indenture"), and the Notes will become convertible at the option of the holders on the business day following the effective date of the merger and will remain convertible until 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the business day immediately preceding the Fundamental Change Repurchase Date (as defined in the Indenture) relating to such Fundamental Change, which will be not earlier than 20 business days after the effective date of the merger.

5:08PM Weyerhaeuser reports that American Industrial Partners signs agreement to acquire the co's Northwest Hardwoods Business Unit (WY) 20.34 +0.01 : American Industrial Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the worldwide hardwoods and industrial products business unit from Weyerhaeuser Co. The transaction is expected to close in August of this year. The future business will operate as Northwest Hardwoods, Inc., headquartered in Tacoma, WA, with operations in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and Hong Kong.

5:06PM PostRock announces settlement (PSTR) 5.32 -0.07 : Co announced that the District Court of Nowata County, Oklahoma has preliminarily certified a class and approved a settlement of all claims against the co by its royalty owners in the State of Oklahoma. Following a 30 day period during which members of the Class may opt out, a hearing on final approval of the Settlement will be held July 28. A total of $5.6 mln will be paid to the claimants. The cost of the Settlement had been fully reserved at March 31, 2011.

5:02PM Scientific Games announced that Sciplay, its joint venture with Playtech Limited, has signed an agreement with the California Online Poker Association to be its provider of intrastate internet poker services (SGMS) 9.58 +0.30 : Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS) announced that Sciplay, its joint venture with Playtech Limited (AIM: PTEC), has signed an agreement with the California Online Poker Association ("COPA") to be its provider of intrastate internet poker services. California is currently considering legislation to authorize and license intrastate internet poker offerings. In advance of this, these agreements with Sciplay and Playtech will enable COPA to offer internet poker in a "play for fun" mode, which provides players with the opportunity to improve their strategies and hone their skills for free. This website is planned for launch in 2011.

5:01PM Nationwide Health authorizes prorated dividend in connection with the merger with Ventas (VTR) (NHP) 41.72 +0.41 : Co announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a prorated dividend on NHP's common stock in connection with the completion of its pending merger with Ventas The dividend will be payable in cash to stockholders of record at the close of business on the last business day prior to the anticipated effective date of the merger. The per share dividend amount payable by NHP will be equal to the co's most recent quarterly dividend rate ($0.48), multiplied by the number of days elapsed since NHP's last dividend record date (May 20, 2011) through and including the day immediately prior to the anticipated effective date of the merger, divided by the actual number of days in the calendar quarter in which such dividend is authorized (91).

4:40PM Chubb estimates losses From April and May catastrophes at ~$0.55 to $0.68 per share (CB) 62.30 -0.36 : Co announced that it estimates aggregate losses from catastrophes for the months of April and May 2011 were ~$250-310 mln before tax (~$0.55-0.68 per share after tax). Losses during the two month period were primarily related to tornadoes and severe storms in the United States. The impact of these catastrophes will be reflected in CB's Q2 2011 financial results. Co had previously disclosed in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 that its estimated catastrophe losses for the month of April 2011 were between $175 mln to $225 mln before tax.

4:32PM Berkshire Hills Bancorp and Legacy (LEGC) shareholders approve merger; expected that the merger will be completed in July (BHLB) 21.62 +0.19 :

4:31PM Morgans Hotel Group acquires remaining equity and control of food and beverage joint ventures from China Grill Management for $20 mln cash (MHGC) 7.07 -0.06 : Based on 2010 results, the $20 million purchase price represents a 5.7x multiple on EBITDA of $3.5 million based on CGM's ownership and management fees. The purchase price was funded through cash on hand generated through the recent sales of Mondrian Los Angeles, Royalton and Morgans.

4:30PM Iridium Communications signs contract with ISC Kosmotras for Iridium next launch provider (IRDM) 8.42 +0.03 : Co announces it signed a contract with International Space Company Kosmotras as a supplemental provider of launch services for its next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. The contract enables ISC Kosmotras to provide Dnepr launch services for the Iridium NEXT program in 2015 and beyond.

4:25PM Amylin Pharma to present 'promising new data' on the company's diabetes programs at American Diabetes Association 2011 June 24-28 (AMLN) 11.42 -0.24 : Co will present data for its two first-in-class diabetes drugs, BYETTA (exenatide) injection and SYMLIN (pramlintide acetate) injection, and its investigational diabetes drug candidates BYDUREON and exenatide once monthly. Co will also host an investor presentation on June 26.

4:24PM Tower Bancorp, Inc. to resume trading at 16:30 ET (TOBC) 20.37 +0.10 :

4:17PM Fifth Street Finance announces a 5 mln share common stock offering (FSC) 11.90 +0.07 : UBS Investment Bank, RBC Capital Markets and Deutsche Bank Securities will act as joint book-running managers for the offering. Fifth Street intends to use substantially all of the net proceeds from this offering to make investments in small and mid-sized companies in accordance with its investment objective and strategies described in the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus and for general corporate purposes. Fifth Street may also use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to repay its outstanding indebtedness.

4:16PM Guess? Chairman Maurice Marciano to retire as Executive Officer at end of fiscal year (GES) 41.58 : Co announces that Maurice Marciano, the Company's co-founder and Chairman of its Board of Directors, has notified the Company of his decision to retire as an executive officer when his current employment agreement expires on January 28, 2012, the end of the Company's current fiscal year. Mr. Marciano will continue to serve the Company as Non-Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors.

4:16PM Provident New York President and CEO George Strayton of announces retirement (PBNY) 8.64 -0.02 : Co announced that after 25 years at the helm of Provident Bank, President and CEO George Strayton will retire. Stayton will remain a member of the Board of Directors. Upon the commencement of his employment, Mr. Kopnisky will receive a non-qualified stock option valued at $250K, a restricted stock grant covering $250K of the co's common stock with time-based vesting and a restricted stock grant covering $100K of the co's common stock with performance vesting.

4:13PM Invesco Mortgage Capital announces public offering of 15 mln shares common stock (IVR) 20.99 +0.10 : Co will grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.250 mln shares of common stock to cover over-allotments. The co expects to use the net proceeds from this offering to make additional acquisitions of residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and mortgage loans, on a leveraged basis, and other general corporate purposes. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

4:11PM Franklin Electric approved plan to close its Tulsa Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma manufacturing facility (FELE) 43.50 +0.24 : Co announces it has approved a plan to close its Tulsa Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma manufacturing facility. As part of this action, co will transfer ~260,000 annual man hours of manufacturing activity primarily to the Linares, Mexico facility, with a small portion of the transfer going to another Oklahoma City-based facility. The transfers should be completed by the end of the first quarter 2012. The Company also expects to incur additional charges for the write-down of assets at its Siloam Springs, Arkansas facility, the closure of which has been previously announced. Additionally, the Company intends to complete other miscellaneous realignments and movements of manufacturing and distribution facilities in a variety of international locations, including the relocation to a new manufacturing facility in Joinville, Brazil. Co has estimated the pretax charge for these actions to be between $2.6-5.2 mln, of which $1.2-3.5 mln is for the Tulsa Avenue facility. The charges will begin in Q2 2011 and end in Q4 2012 and include severance expenses, pension curtailments, asset write-offs, and equipment relocation costs. ~50-60% of these charges will be non-cash.

4:10PM CACI Intl to acquire Pangia Technologies; acquisition is expected to be accretive to CACI's earnings per share during its first 12 months (CACI) 63.05 : Co announces that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Pangia Technologies. Pangia's revenue in calendar year 2010 was $18.7 million. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to CACI's earnings per share during its first 12 months.

4:08PM Prospect Capital announces public offering of 10 mln shares of common stock (PSEC) 10.68 +0.03 : Barclays Capital Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager in this offering.

4:06PM Tsakos Energy announces charter of DNA-Aframax tanker maria princess (TNP) 10.04 +0.02 : Co announced the charter of the 105,000 dwt, DNA design Aframax tanker, Maria Princess, to a major Chinese oil concern for a twelve month period. This charter comes in line with the Company's pre-stated policy in exploring opportunities in the wider Chinese energy market.

4:06PM Annaly Capital Mgmt declared Q2 common stock cash dividend of $0.65 per common share, up from $0.62 per common share (NLY) 18.50 +0.10 :

4:06PM Weatherford settles with BP any claims between the companies related to the Macondo litigation, reaches indemnity agreement with BP; will provide $75 million to BP to be applied to the Gulf Coast recovery fund e (WFT) 16.90 -0.13 : Co announces that its U.S. subsidiary has reached agreement with BP to settle any claims that may have arisen between the companies relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident and oil spill. Under the settlement, BP will indemnify Weatherford for current and future compensatory claims resulting from the incident and the impacts from that event. Under the agreement, BP will indemnify Weatherford for environmental, pollution, personal, business, property and economic loss claims. The two companies have agreed to work with each other to improve the safety of offshore drilling. The entire cost of this settlement is being funded under insurance policies that Weatherford had in place at the time of the incident. As part of the settlement, Weatherford will provide $75 million to BP to be applied to the Gulf Coast recovery fund.

4:03PM Blackboard announces extension of deadline to tender 3.250% convertible senior notes due 2027 for exercise of repurchase option to June 29 from June 24 (BBBB) 40.15 -0.61 :

4:03PM Senesco has been told by the FDA that all clinical hold issues have been satisfactorily addressed and the FDA has removed the clinical hold on Senesco's IND application (SNT) 0.28 +0.01 : Co announces it has been told by the FDA that all clinical hold issues have been satisfactorily addressed and the FDA has removed the clinical hold on Senesco's Investigational New Drug application. After the Company's supplier provided the requested update to the supplier's Drug Master File and satisfactorily addressed all FDA questions, Senesco was informed by the FDA that it may proceed with its first-in-class clinical study in multiple myeloma. Senesco's IND for SNS01-T is open.

4:02PM Achillion Pharma announces proposed public offering of common stock (ACHN) 6.10 -0.09 : Co announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of an aggregate of 9 mln shares of its common stock. In connection with this offering, Achillion plans to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.35 mln shares of its common stock to cover overallotments, if any. BofA Merrill Lynch and Leerink Swann LLC are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

4:01PM Watson Pharm confirms AVODART patent challenge (WPI) 64.39 +0.86 : Co confirmed that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application with the FDA seeking approval to market Dutasteride Capsules, 0.5 mg. Watson's Dutasteride Capsules product is a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) AVODART, which is indicated for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia in men with an enlarged prostate. GlaxoSmithKline filed suit against Watson on June 17, 2011 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware seeking to prevent Watson from commercializing its Dutasteride Capsules product prior to the expiration of U.S. Patent No. 5,565,467. GlaxoSmithKline's lawsuit was filed under the provisions of the Hatch-Waxman Act, resulting in a stay of final FDA approval of Watson's ANDA until November 17, 2013 or until final resolution of the matter before the court, whichever occurs sooner, subject to any other exclusivities. For the twelve months ending April 30, 2011, AVODART had total U.S. sales of ~$580 million according to IMS Health data.

4:01PM Compass Minerals Intl announced promotion of James Standen to treasurer, effective July 1 (CMP) 85.14 +0.29 :

4:00PM Susquehanna Bancshares (SUSQ) acquires Tower BancorpBank for $28/share (TOBC) 20.37 +0.10 : SUSQ and Tower Bancorp announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Susquehanna will acquire all outstanding shares of TOBC common stock in a stock and cash transaction.The transaction, with an approximate total value of $343 mln, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012. Under the terms of the agreement, Tower shareholders will have the option of receiving either 3.4696 shares of SUSQ common stock or $28.00 in cash for each share of TOBC common stock, with $88 mln of the aggregate consideration being paid in cash. TOBC is halted.

3:52PM Ingram Micro: Kaspersky Lab announced earlier that it signed U.S. distribution agreement with Ingram Micro (IM) 17.15 +0.09 : The relationship will allow Kaspersky Lab to drive a deeper relationship with VARs and systems integrators across the United States, and is the most recent example of Kaspersky Lab's 100-percent commitment to its channel partners.

3:44PM Earnings Calendar (SUMRX) : Today after the close RENN is scheduled to report. Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report:

* BKS, CCL, CMC, GRB, JEF, and WAG.

3:31PM PPL Corp announces U.S. Supreme Court accepted PPL Montana streambed case (PPL) 27.18 +0.10 : Co reports that the US Supreme Court announced June 20 that it will hear PPL Montana's appeal of a Montana Supreme Court decision that granted the state ownership of riverbeds underlying certain PPL Montana-owned dams, retroactively going back to statehood... The case involves PPL Montana's appeal of a state court decision that the company must pay accrued rent and interest, and an undetermined amount of rent going forward, to Montana for the use of riverbeds beneath its hydroelectric plants, some of which have been generating electricity for more than a century. PPL Montana has recorded a charge of $56 million that includes the original judgment of the Montana courts plus the company's estimate of interest and rent that has accrued since the state court's ruling.

3:17PM Momenta Pharma study was published showing M402 inhibits tumor metastasis in multiple murine oncology models published in PLoS One (MNTA) : Co announced that results from a preclinical study of its novel oncology drug candidate, M402. In this study, anti-tumor efficacy was first evaluated in an experimental murine melanoma metastasis model. The data indicated that a single dose of M402 administered prior to tumor inoculation significantly reduced tumor colonization in the lung in a dose-dependent manner, presumably due to inhibiting adhesion of circulating tumor cells to new metastatic sites. Based on these findings, the potential anti-tumor efficacy of M402 was then assessed for the ability to inhibit spontaneous metastasis in an orthotopic murine metastatic breast carcinoma model. In this model, M402 in combination with cisplatin was shown to significantly inhibit tumor cell metastasis to the lung compared to animals treated with cisplatin alone. Subsequent immunohistological analysis showed a decrease in microvessel density in both primary tumors and lung metastases in the M402 treated group, suggesting that anti-angiogenesis may contribute to the anti-tumor effect of M402.

3:14PM Stock indices slip back in recent trade, Nasdaq Comp +9.6 set minor new afternoon low -- Dow +56, S&P +4.7 (SPY) :

3:09PM Alvarion and Winncom sign distribution agreement for high speed wireless connectivity for Eastern Europe, Russian, and CIS regions (ALVR) 1.13 -0.09 :


2:57PM Apple climbs higher intraday as it pushes back up to probe this morning's gap down highs near the $317.50 area (AAPL) 317.48 -2.99 : Gap fill near $320.00, with the 200-day ema also in that vicinity, at $320.24.

2:49PM Stock indices work back toward midday/session highs -- Dow +81, S&P +7.8, Nasdaq Comp +16 (SPY) : The S&P was able to hold at intraday support noted earlier (13:50 update at 1276) with it recently pushing back near the session high at 1280.

2:44PM CBOT Agriculture and Ethanol and ICE Exchange Sugar Closing Prices (COMDX) : Continuous corn futures closed 2 cents higher at $7.02/bushel, wheat fell 11 cents (or 1.6%) to close at $6.62, cont. soybeans rose 5 cents at $13.38, cont. ethanol closed up 2 cents to $2.67, while cont. world sugar futures closed up 0.4% at 0.26 cents.

2:41PM NYMEX Energy Closing Prices (COMDX) : Crude oil settled up 25 cents to finish at $93.26, natural gas closed higher by 0.1 cents to $4.33, RBOB gasoline finished higher by 0.3 cents to $2.92, while heating oil shed 0.1 cents to $2.93 (all July contracts).

2:09PM NJ Resources's NJR Clean Energy Ventures announces 4.7 megawatt solar project in Vineland, NJ (NJR) 43.48 +0.25 : Co announced that it will invest up to $23.7 mln to develop, own and operate a 4.7 megawatt, ground-mount solar system in Vineland, NJ. Once complete, the solar installation will provide electricity to the wholesale market through the Vineland Municipal Electric Utility. The solar array is expected to produce 7.2 mln kWh annually, eliminating ~ 4,953 metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions from the atmosphere per year.

2:08PM U.S. Oil Fund ETF climbs to modest session highs as it lifts up to probe Friday's late intraday rebound high near $36.70-36.75, with Friday's high overhead at $37.03 (USO) 36.70 +0.05 :

2:03PM Netsmart Technologies' CMHC/MIS 4.2 electronic health record software has achieved ONC-ATCB ARRA Ambulatory Certification (NTST) 35.08 +0.84 :

2:02PM Domtar to participate in the biomass-fueled power plant project at its Rothschild, Wisconsin paper mill site (UFS) 92.52 +0.57 : Co's Board of Directors authorized the signing by Domtar Paper Company of the revised project agreements with Wisconsin Electric Power Company to participate in the project that will see Wisconsin Electric Power Company construct a biomass-fueled power plant at Domtar's Rothschild, Wisconsin paper mill site. The construction is expected to take 30 months for a start-up by the end of the third quarter of 2013.

1:50PM Stock indices slip slightly off midday highs -- Dow +58, S&P +5.1, Nasdaq Comp +12.3 (SPY) : Initial intraday support for the S&P at 1276 is being tested with a secondary level at 1273.

1:32PM COMEX Metals Closing Prices (COMDX) : August gold ended higher by $2.90 to $1542.00, July silver gained 29 cents to close at $36.03, while July copper finished off 0.3 cents to $4.07.

1:27PM Apple: After holding support off of the $310.00 level off the open, stock gradually works its way back higher as it attempts to push back through the $315.00 zone (AAPL) 315.63 -4.64 :

1:08PM Stock indices pull back off midday highs in recent action -- Dow +63 slipped roughly 30 points, S&P +5.7, Nasdaq Comp +14 (SPY) :

1:03PM IBM launches new cloud service Smart Cloud that enables data retrieval in minutes versus days in the event of a disaster (IBM) 165.03 +0.59 :

12:48PM United Tech's Sikorsky Aircraft announced China Southern Airlines' (ZNH) Zhuhai Helicopter Branch has contracted for a S-76C++ and two S-92 helicopters (UTX) 85.71 +1.14 : China Southern Airlines has also awarded IAE International Aero Engines an order for 65 SelectOne engines, bringing the total number of V2500-powered China Southern aircraft in service to 177. The agreement also includes a long-term IAE engine maintenance agreement. The value to Pratt & Whitney of the order and aftermarket agreement is approximately $250 million.

12:47PM Radiant Systems selected by Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill as restaurant technology provider (RADS) 19.42 +0.15 : Co announced a new agreement with Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill to implement the Aloha solution and Radiant hardware across many of its sites in 2011. Rubio's will take advantage of the full breadth of the solution, including its back office, point of sale, kitchen, above-store management, and marketing modules.

12:33PM United Tech's Sikorsky Aircraft announced that the Brazilian Navy signed an agreement with the U.S. Government to acquire two additional Sikorsky S-70B maritime helicopters (UTX) 85.72 +1.15 :

12:33PM Oracle to announce Datanomic integration plans; webcast scheduled for July 19 (ORCL) 31.39 +0.75 : Co recently acquired Datanomic, a provider of enterprise customer data quality software and related applications for Watch List compliance screening. The combination of Datanomic technology and Oracle Product Data Quality is expected to deliver improved data integrity across the enterprise, and lower cost and complexity of managing data.

12:30PM Nasdaq Comp +19 edges to new session high in midday trade, Dow +88 and S&P +8.5 hovering under highs after leading throughout morning (TECHX) : Relative sector strength in recent trade has continued to come from Retail XRT along with Software IGV, Casino BJK, Networking IGN, Internet FDN, Transports IYT, Discretionary XLY.

12:21PM United Tech's Hamilton Sundstrand and Aviation Industry Corporation of China Engine Holdings form partnership for commercial auxiliary power units (UTX) 85.54 +0.97 :

12:16PM Nike test 200 sma resistance for third time over last few weeks (NKE) 82.81 +1.70 : Rally attempts the previous two weeks tested and stalled at the 200 sma. The new high in recent trade leaves the stock back near this barrier at 82.76

12:16PM Ituran Location and Control announces decision by the Israeli District Court in the Leonardo litigation case (ITRN) 14.21 -0.19 : The court in its decision rejected Leonardo's three alternative claims for (a) the repayment in cash of the balance of the notes in the amount of ~$6.2 mln plus interest and expenses, (b) the delivery to Leonardo of the maximum number of our ordinary shares into which the notes could have been converted on the maturity date without regard to the 2.25 mln share limitation, or ~3.52 mln ordinary shares, plus additional monetary damages; and (c) the payment of a cash amount equal to the amount obtained by multiplying the 3,516,462 shares mentioned in the preceding clause by the highest trading price of our ordinary shares between the maturity date and the date of the court's decision, plus interest or expenses. However, the court accepted Lenoardo's fourth claim that on January 29, 2002 a "triggering event", as defined in the agreement occurred, entitling Leonardo the option to redeem the notes. In its decision, the court ordered the Company to pay the sum of approximately US$9.6 mln, to be paid in accordance with the exchange rate in NIS at the date of the occurrence of the "triggering event", plus interest and linkage differences by law and in addition legal expenses in the sum of NIS 1.2 mln (~$0.3 mln), which total ~NIS 78.7 mln (~$22.7 mln).

12:10PM Wal-Mart confirms Supreme Court ruling in Dukes case (WMT) 53.09 +0.27 : Co says it "has had strong policies against discrimination for many years. The Court today unanimously rejected class certification and, as the majority made clear, the plaintiffs' claims were worlds away from showing a companywide discriminatory pay and promotion policy... By reversing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, the majority effectively ends this class action lawsuit." (see 10:24 comment)

12:08PM Thomson Reuters acquired CorpSmart from Deloitte; terms of the transaction were not disclosed (TRI) 37.14 +0.04 :

11:56AM Under Armour notches new session high of 70.00 just above its five day range top/previous June peak at 69.90 (UA) 69.96 +1.89 :

11:52AM Another round of new highs for the stock indices -- Dow +88, S&P +7.6, Nasdaq Comp +12 (SPY) : The S&P is testing the upper end of first level resistance noted in The Technical Take at 1279 (Friday's high) as it nears midday -- session high 1279.

11:39AM Teleflex resolves FDA Warning Letter (TFX) 60.18 +0.36 : Co has successfully resolved all outstanding issues raised by the FDA in a corporate Warning Letter received by its subsidiary, Arrow Intl. The Warning Letter was received in October of 2007, and identified FDA's observations on a variety of Arrow's quality systems control measures that occurred prior to Teleflex's acquisition of Arrow. The FDA notified the Company that its response and the actions that have been adopted and implemented have sufficiently addressed the FDA's observations.

11:30AM Minor new highs for Dow +72 and S&P +5.7, Nasdaq Comp +6.2 hovering just below morning peak (SPY) : Relative sector strength (outperforming the S&P) in recent trade noted in Housing XHB, Biotech IBB, Reg Bank KRE, Finance XLF, Airline FAA, Silver SLV, Solar TAN, Copper JJC.

11:10AM JBT Corp awarded airport services and maintenance contract at Washington Dulles International Airpo (JBT) 18.04 -0.06 : Co announced that its JBT AeroTech business has been awarded a new airport services contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) at Washington Dulles International Airport. The base two-year contract includes options for three additional years and, assuming exercise of each of the option years, is expected to generate in excess of $10.5 million in revenue over the five-year period.

11:09AM Park City selected by national beverage company (PCYG) 4.21 -0.04 : Co announced that its Vendor Managed Inventory solution has been selected by a leading national beverage company to assist in optimizing its supply chain through efficient product ordering and tracking. Park City Group's Vendor Managed Inventory solution will assist the beverage company in managing their distribution network from manufacturing facility to consumer.

10:51AM A-Power Energy responds to article; co is reviewing issues raised (APWR) 1.48 -0.37 : Co says "We are aware of the article published on the Seeking Alpha website on June 17, 2011 by a self-admitted short seller, Eiad Asbahi, who stands to profit if the stock price of A-Power declines. We are reviewing the issues raised in this article and will provide answers by way of a press release as soon as possible."

10:49AM Johnson Controls receives approval from anti-trust authorities to acquire Keiper and Recaro Automotive; Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed (JCI) 37.24 +0.13 :

10:44AM American Express a leading Dow component, vacillating near last week's high of 49.14 (AXP) 49.12 +0.62 :

10:41AM Advanced Micro continues to lag semi sector/market, probes its nine month lows from Oct at 6.79/6.77 -- session low 6.80 (AMD) 6.82 -0.18 : Stock in down for the fourth day in a row (more than 12% off last week's high) and the 12th out of the last 14 (-22% off May 31 high).

10:32AM Dow +45 and S&P +2.8 set new highs Nasdaq Comp +4.6 lagging a bit on recent push (SPY) : Seeing some relative sector strength in recent action in Finance XLF, Retail XRT, REITs IYR

10:31AM Boeing and Aviation Industry Corporation to open manufacturing innovation center in China (BA) 73.82 -0.34 : Co's will open the AVIC-Boeing Manufacturing Innovation Center in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. The AVIC-Boeing MIC will enhance Boeing's production system by increasing AVIC's efficiency and capacity to supply high-quality parts for Boeing airplanes. It was also announced that Boeing has awarded a contract to produce 737 rudders to Chengfei Commercial Aircraft co.

10:20AM Stock indices slip back slightly off morning bounce highs -- Dow +22, S&P +0.04, Nasdaq Comp -0.3 (SPY) : A counter punch after the bounce off opening lows will give us a quick read on the underlying strength of the morning recovery. The S&P (and Dow held) near Friday's late low and bounced but some slippage has been noted in recent trade. A hold above the low keeps the constructive higher low pattern today and Friday/Monday intact amid some developing technical positives (see The Technical Take for details).

10:13AM Currency Chart Watch: Euro / Yen Futures eyeing short term range top (TECHX) : The Euro/Yen Continuous Futures Contract is edging up toward the top of its now three day range after several days of stabilization near a support zone (retracement, 200 sma, May low) -- Click for chart.

10:09AM Apple continues to show signs of relative weakness as it dips back down to probe its opening lows near the $314.00 area (AAPL) 314.06 -6.11 : Would note that the issue is squarely back through its 200-day ema ($320.21) with this move at hand.

10:03AM Goldman Sachs displays opening relative weakness as it sinks to fresh lows to challenge the $135.00 area, above last wk's lows near $134.00 (GS) 135.18 -2.10 :

10:01AM Neuralstem provides update for NSI-189 major depression trial; advancing to final phase Ia Cohort (CUR) 1.51 +0.06 : Co announced that it has been approved to dose the final cohort in the ongoing Phase Ia trial to test the safety of NSI-189 for the treatment of major depression. Phase Ia is testing the drug in healthy volunteers for safety and tolerability. NSI-189 is a proprietary new chemical entity discovered by Neuralstem that stimulates new neuron growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that is believed to be involved in depression and other diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.

10:01AM BNY Mellon's Pershing unit enhances its Valuealliance program with new solution providers (BK) 26.06 -0.14 : Co announced that it has added more than 20 new providers to its ValueAlliance program. ValueAlliance offers Pershing's introducing broker-dealer, independent registered investment advisor and hedge fund customers preferred pricing and access to solutions from a network of third-party firms and consultants.

10:00AM Sirius XM Radio announces General Motors (GM) dealers to offer 3-month subscription to SiriusXM on pre-owned vehicles (SIRI) 1.92 0.00 : Co announced that customers will automatically receive a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM when they purchase a pre-owned vehicle factory installed with satellite radio, regardless of manufacturer, from over 1,000 participating GM dealerships across the United States.

9:56AM Stock indices edge to minor new session highs -- Dow +21, S&P +1.5, Nasdaq Comp +6.6 (SPY) : The S&P/Dow held near Friday's afternoon low during early trade (Nasdaq Comp slipped under and quickly reversed) and have been working higher over the last 20 min. A minor resistance zone for the S&P is near 1274 with a more important zone at 1277/1279 (see The Technical Take for charts).

9:53AM United Tech: IAE Board of Directors announces extension of collaboration agreement (UTX) 84.78 +0.21 : International Aero Engines executive Board of Directors has announced the extension of its collaboration agreement to 2045. IAE is a multi-national aircraft engine consortium comprised of Pratt & Whitney, unit of United Tech, Rolls-Royce, Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.

9:51AM Frontier Oil sets new session high (FTO) 30.79 +0.68 : A top performing Refiner this morning has pushed as high as 30.79 this morning. Friday's high is at 30.89 with the top of its relatively tight week long trade range from last week is at 31.13.

9:51AM Denison Mining to proceed to compulsory acquisition of White Canyon Uranium Limited (DNN) 1.77 -0.04 : Co announced that its Offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of White Canyon Uranium Limited announced in February 2011, closed on June 17, 2011 with Denison receiving acceptances of 96.98% under the Offer. Denison now intends to proceed with the compulsory acquisition of the remaining shares of White Canyon and the delisting of White Canyon's shares from both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. White Canyon's key assets are located in southeastern Utah, near Denison's White Mesa mill. Its holdings comprise 100% interests in the advanced Thompson, Daneros, Lark Royal, Geitus, Blue Jay and Marcy Look Projects. White Canyon commenced uranium production in December 2009 from its 100% owned Daneros Uranium Mine.

9:51AM Gastar Exploration prices 8.625% Series A Preferred Stock of Gastar Exploration U (GST) 3.33 -0.03 : Co priced an underwritten public offering of 646,295 shares of perpetual and non-convertible 8.625% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock (liquidation preference of $25.00 per share) at a public offering price of $23.25 per share. The effective current yield of Gastar USA's 8.625% Series A Cumulative Preferred Stock is 9.27%. The offering is expected to close on June 23, 2011.

9:48AM Opening Point Gainers/Losers (TECHX) : Point Gainers: HRBN (+4.41), BIIB (+4.24), CRS (+3.67), MCP (+3.60), AGU (+2.42), CF (+2.19), ACUR (+2.01), LULU (+2.05), ASH (+1.73), AMZN (+1.45), TFM (+1.43), POT (+1.29), CAT (+1.23)

Point Losers: AAPL (-4.14), NFLX (-2.50), LECO (-2.15), MELI (-1.77), LNKD (-1.56), VITC (-1.90), GS (-1.79), PNC (-1.69), BJ (-1.66), IOC (-1.41), TCK (-1.24)

9:46AM Solazyme announces successful MH 60S Seahawk Helicopter test flight on a 50/50 blend of algal derived Solajet HRJ-5 jet fuel (SZYM) 21.60 +0.16 : Co anounced that the US Navy successfully demonstrated Solazyme's 100% algal-derived jet fuel, Solajet HRJ-5, in an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter test flight in a 50/50 blend with petroleum-derived jet fuel. This test flight preceded the historic announcement by ASTM International that it has preliminarily approved biofuel from algae and other renewable sources to be blended with traditional jet fuel on commercial flights worldwide, with formal approval expected sometime in July.

9:43AM Semiconductor Hldrs back to positive ground after opening hold above Friday's low (SMH) 32.38 +0.06 : INTC +0.4%, SNDK +1.6%, NVDA +1%, AMAT +0.9%, XLNX +0.7%.

9:41AM Caterpillar firmer in early trade, edges slightly above Thursday's low bar high and Friday's high at 96.86/96.94 (CAT) 97.02 +1.07 :

9:39AM Oil Service HOLDRS early weakness brings its 200 day sma into play at 140.75 (OIH) 140.65 -1.37 :

9:39AM United Tech unit finalizes agreement for PurePower PW1100G Engines on Airbus A320neo order (UTX) 84.35 -0.22 : Pratt & Whitney and International Lease Finance Corporation signed a definitive agreement concerning engines for up to 100 Airbus A320neo family aircraft ordered by International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) as part of an order announced in early March. The agreement includes 120 firm PurePower PW1100G engines for 60 aircraft and options for up to 80 engines on an additional 40 aircraft with deliveries which may occur as early as 2015.

9:38AM Sector Relative Strength (TECHX) : Early positive action in Gold Miners GDX, Silver SLV, Gold GLD, Biotech BBH (BIIB) and selected Education (EDMC, LINC, APOL, CPLA, LOPE).

9:34AM Derma Sciences raises $29 mln in private placement financing (DSCI) 8.06 -0.30 : Co has entered into definitive agreements with select institutional investors to raise gross proceeds of ~$29 million. InCo will issue ~3.5 million shares of common stock and five-year warrants to purchase ~1.75 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $9.90 per share. Net proceeds from this financing will be used to advance the Company's pharmaceutical product DSC127 into Phase 3 trials for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, to hire additional salespeople for the advanced wound care products, to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. The private placement is expected to close on or about June 23, 2011... Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Inc. served as lead placement agents for the offering. Roth Capital Partners and Rodman & Renshaw served as advisors to the Company.

9:34AM Gold and silver to fresh highs as dollar trades into negative territory (COMDX) :

9:31AM Demandtec: Dollar General (DG) selects DemandTec (DMAN) 7.76 -0.14 : DemandTec announced that Dollar General (DG) has selected DemandTec's Markdown Optimization, Everyday Price Optimization, and Everyday Price Management software services.

9:30AM ACE Limited subsidiary has acquired all of the outstanding shares of ACE Synergy Insurance Berhad in Malaysia (ACE) 64.15 64.00 : ACE INA International Holdings has acquired all of the outstanding shares it does not already own, or ~49%, of ACE Synergy Insurance Berhad in Malaysia from Advance Synergy Capital Berhad for ~$39 mln in cash.

9:22AM Macy's enters into $1.5 bln credit agreement maturing June 2015; replaces existing $2 bln facility maturing 2012 (M) 27.27 :

9:17AM General Electric releases 2010 ecomagination annual report; R&D investments total nearly $2 bln in 2010 (GE) 18.49 : Co announces its ecomagination annual report showing it invested about $1.8 bln in 2010 on research and development of clean technologies, which puts it on course to meet its goal of $10 billion cumulative investment between 2010 and 2015.

9:13AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Integral Systems (ISYS) announced that it has been awarded a contract by AsiaSat to provide its industry leading EPOCH Integrated Product Suite satellite command and control software to manage the AsiaSat 7 satellite.
* Group 1 Automotive (GPI) announced that effective July 1, it is consolidating its regional structure in the United States from three into two regions. In conjunction with this consolidation, Group 1 announced several personnel changes within its regional and corporate operations.
* Zhone Technologies (ZHNE) was chosen to help Hickory Telephone Company deliver advanced triple-play services - including radio-frequency, video, voice over Internet Protocol, and high-speed data - to consumers and local businesses throughout Western Pennsylvania.
* Sigma Designs (SIGM) unveiled the industry's most advanced platform reference design, enabling an experience only found in devices that are combined with networking gateways.
* CA Technologies (CA) and Dimension Data Asia Pacific announced they are collaborating to drive enterprise cloud adoption throughout Asia Pacific.
* Raytheon Company (RTN) and the Norwegian defense company are in the process of qualifying an alternate rocket engine for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile.
* Goodrich (GR) has been selected by KLM to supply wheels and carbon brakes for all new Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft deliveries and to retrofit 737 NG in-service aircraft.
* Genetic Technologies (GENE) through its North American division, Phenogen Sciences, has launched the new BREVAGen genetic test for assessing non-familial breast cancer risk.
* Ciena (CIEN) announced that its Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery platforms are being deployed by Comcast (CMCSA) as customer premise equipment for business services and wireless backhaul.
* Harris Corporation (HRS) received a $9.4 mln order from the U.S. Air Force for additional Falcon III AN/PRC-117G multiband manpack radio systems.
* Lawson Products (LAWS) was awarded a three-year contract to supply all of the Utah Transit Authority's fastener needs.

9:10AM China Valves Tech receives $2 mln purchase orders from China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and Shanghai Electric (CVVT) 3.12 : China Valves signed the contract for the second purchase order with its partner Shanghai Electric, the contractor of CGNPG. The valves under this contract are intended for CGNPG's Yangjiang nuclear power station in Guangdong province'. Kaifeng Valve expects to deliver these products in August 2011.

9:09AM Group 1 Auto announces regional consolidation (GPI) 36.00 : Co announces that effective July 1, it is consolidating its regional structure in the United States from three into two regions. In conjunction with this consolidation, Group 1 announced several personnel changes within its regional and corporate operations. Group 1 is consolidating its former Western Region of 11 dealerships into the current Central Region and will rename the combined operation the West Region

9:07AM Almaden Minerals agrees to sell a portion of its Beanstalk Capital Shareholdings (AAU) 3.00 : Co announces it has reached an agreement in principle with several proposed purchasers to assign and sell up to an aggregate of 8.25 mln of the 37 mln common shares of Beanstalk Capital to be received by the Company upon appropriate regulatory approval for the sale of the Elk gold deposit. The sale and assignment will be at $0.355 per share.

9:06AM Digital Power Corporation announces the acquisition of 8.8% of Telkoor Telecom (DPW) 1.46 : Co announces that it has acquired 1,136,666 shares of its largest shareholder, Telkoor Telecom, for $0.88 per share, which represents 8.8% of the outstanding shares of Telkoor.

9:04AM Crude oil also pushing back toward flat line; now off 45 cents to $92.56 (COMDX) :

9:04AM Pullback in dollar pushes gold, silver back to flat line (COMDX) :

* Gold now up 10 cents to $1539.20.
* Silver higher by a penny to $35.76.

9:03AM Abbott Labs announces FDA approval for 45 mg for six-month administration formulation of Lupron Depot (ABT) 51.68 :

9:01AM Microsoft says will announce news from its Office Division live from New York via webcast on June 28 at 10am ET (MSFT) 24.26 :

9:00AM Cedar Fair names Matthew Ouimet as President of the co (FUN) 18.30 : Co announces that Matthew A. Ouimet has been named president of the co, effective immediately. He will succeed Dick Kinzel as CEO, who will retire upon the expiration of his contract on January 3, 2012. Most recently, he was Senior vice president, finance and business development, and chief financial officer of the Disney Development Company.

8:51AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Office Depot (ODP) announced pre-sale availability of the HP TouchPad tablet. The HP (HPQ) TouchPad is available in 16GB for $499 and 32GB for $599.
* Neogen (NEOG) announced that it has acquired the assets of the VeroMara seafood testing laboratory from its parent co. VeroMara recorded revenues of ~$800,000 in its most recently completed fiscal year. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
* Integral Systems (ISYS) announced that it has been awarded a contract by AsiaSat to provide its industry leading EPOCH Integrated Product Suite satellite command and control software to manage the AsiaSat 7 satellite, a Space Systems/Loral LS1300 satellite bus.

8:44AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies (UTX) announced that India's Ministry of Defence has signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the U.S. government to acquire 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifters exclusively powered by four Pratt & Whitney F117 engines. According to the agreement, India will take delivery of its C-17s in 2013 and 2014. In addition, El Al Airlines signed a long-term agreement to use Pratt & Whitney's engine wash system.
* Nielsen (NLSN) has entered into a strategic alliance with MyWebGrocer to measure U.S. online supermarket sales.
* Calix (CALX) announced that two New Mexico Broadband Stimulus award winners -- Penasco Valley Telecommunications and La Jicarita Rural Telephone Cooperative have each selected the Calix Unified Access portfolio to bring advanced broadband services to their rural subscribers in southern and northeastern New Mexico respectively.
* Iron Mountain (IRM) and RegistryASP have entered into a co-referral agreement to better provide for applicants participating in the New Generic Top-Level Domain Program piloted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
* Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) announced that its recently introduced end-to-end FDR InfiniBand connectivity products have been selected by the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre to provide world-leading connectivity performance for its upcoming SuperMUC supercomputer.
* Boston Scientific (BSX) announced the global launch of its Mustang PTA Balloon Catheter, a 0.035 inch percutaneous transluminal angioplasty catheter designed for peripheral angioplasty procedures. The co plans to launch the product immediately in the U.S., Europe and other international markets.
* Medidata Solutions (MDSO) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Clinical Force for undisclosed proceeds.
* ICO Global Communications (ICOG) and Ovidian Group announced that Ovidian has been acquired by ICO. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

8:34AM BankAtlantic announces completion of rights offering; expects BankAtlantic will meet tier 1/core capital ratio of 8% and total capital ratio of 14% at June 30, 2011 (BBX) 0.74 :

8:33AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Dex One (DEXO) and Google (GOOG) announced a strategic agreement that will elevate Dex One to a select group of companies around the world who serve as Google AdWords Certified Partners. This partnership is part of Dex One's overall efforts to drive the company's digital sales to 30% of total revenue by the end of 2012.
* Cinedigm Digital Cinema (CIDM) announced a long-term VPF deployment agreement with Malco Theatres. The agreement will enable the conversion of Malco Theatres to digital cinema under the terms of Cinedigm's long-term agreements with all the major studios.
* Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND) announced that it has entered into a Captisol supply agreement with Merck (MRK) for an undisclosed program. Ligand will supply clinical and commercial supplies of Captisol and, if the program is approved for commercialization, expects to deliver multiple metric tons of Captisol annually. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
* MICROS Systems (MCRS) announced that The Greenbrier, has selected myfidelio.net and its OTA and GDS booking features.
* Allegheny Technologies (ATI) announced that it has signed a long-term sourcing agreement with Rolls-Royce for the supply of ATI 718Plus Alloy.
* Since February 2011, seven world-class luxury brands, most recently Cartier, have opened exclusive branded video channels through Youku.com (YOKU).
* Icagen (ICGN) provided an update on its sodium channel program for pain and related disorders which is being conducted in collaboration with Pfizer (PFE). Icagen and Pfizer have initiated a multiple ascending dose study of the lead compound in the collaboration, which targets the ion channel Nav 1.7.
* ZST Digital Networks (ZSTN) has recently filed a patent application with the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office to ensure intellectual property protection for its Assisted GPS technology.
* Ryder System (R) has expanded its full service lease contract with CEVA Logistics adding over 1,000 trailers to support its domestic U.S. ground business, including the company's CEVA Ground and Freight Management businesses.
* McGraw-Hill (MHP) Higher Education and Greenway Medical Technologies announced the formation of McGraw-Hill's Integrated Electronic Health Records.
* IAMGOLD (IAG) announced that it has filed an independently prepared NI 43-101 compliant preliminary economic assessment, in the form of a NI 43-101 compliant technical report on its wholly-owned Niobec niobium mine in the province of Quebec, Canada.
* Alder Biopharmaceuticals announced it will receive a $15 mln payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) for the initiation of a Phase 2b clinical trial in rheumatoid arthritis for ALD518/BMS-945429, an investigational antibody therapeutic that blocks interleukin-6.
* Dresser-Rand Group (DRC) and Statoil (STO) announced that they have launched a joint research and development project based on Dresser-Rand's Integrated Compression System..
* Primus Telecommunications (PTGI) announced that it has been authorized to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "PTGI."
* 8x8 (EGHT) announced that on June 17, 2011 it acquired Zerigo, a Littleton, Colorado-based co providing virtual private servers, managed DNS services, and monitoring tools for cloud-based server operations. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
* Science Applications International (SAI) announced it was awarded a follow-on contract by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command to provide scientific and other support services to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.
* All Nippon Airways has selected Pratt & Whitney's PW4074D engines to power five new Boeing 777 aircraft. The agreement represents 10 firm PW4074D engines and is valued at $230 mln at list prices. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies (UTX) co. Additionally, co announced completed assembly of the first J-2X upper-stage engine for NASA's next era of human spaceflight in preparation for demonstration testing expected to begin this month at Stennis Space Center, MS.



8:32AM Horizon Technology Finance receives commitment for new $150 million accordion credit facility with initial $75 million commitment (HRZN) 15.23 : Co announces that it has received a commitment for a new credit facility up to $150 million with an initial commitment of $75 million from Wells Fargo. The credit facility contains an "accordion" feature which would allow additional lenders to join the facility with increased commitments up to an aggregate of $150 million.

8:32AM Virgin Media reports it repurchase of 185K shares of common stock on June 17, 2011 at $29.90-30.36 (VMED) 29.91 :

8:31AM Quantum Fuel received $434K contract for high capacity natural gas on-board storage tanks from Agility Fuel Systems for use in Class 8 renewable natural gas powered dairy trucks (QTWW) 3.56 :

8:30AM Hanmi Financial commences $75 mln common stock offering (HAFC) 1.05 : FBR Capital Markets & Co. will act as sole book-running manager. Company intends to contribute a substantial portion of the net proceeds from the offering to Hanmi Bank as additional capital and to support future organic and acquisition driven growth.

8:20AM Gold drops ~3 points to lows following open of pit trade; now down $4.70 to $1534.40 (COMDX) :

8:16AM Scientific Games signs five-year instant ticket contract extension with Georgia Lottery (SGMS) 9.28 : In fiscal year 2010, the Georgia Lottery generated over $3.6 bln in retail sales, of which $2.4 bln were derived from instant ticket game sales.

8:11AM Dex One and Google (GOOG) create strategic advertising sales partnership (DEXO) 2.10 : The cos announced today a strategic agreement that will elevate Dex One to a select group of companies around the world who serve as Google AdWords(TM) Certified Partners. This partnership is part of Dex One's overall efforts to drive the company's digital sales to 30 percent of total revenue by the end of 2012. Through the partnership, Dex One customers will be better positioned to optimize their lead generation activities, leverage local search, enhance their digital presence and better compete in a changing marketplace.

8:05AM Blue Phoenix announced that it was awarded a $0.7 Million contract from a leading US financial organization (BPHX) 1.04 :

8:01AM Spansion and Samsung announce patent litigation settlement and cross-licensing agreement (CODE) 17.92 : Co and Samsung Electronics announced that they have agreed to settle all ongoing patent litigation and disputes, including their respective investigations with the US International Trade Commission. Under the terms of the agreement, Spansion and Samsung have agreed to a seven year cross license of each other's patent portfolios. As part of the overall agreement, Samsung will pay Spansion $150 million over five years with an initial payment of $25 million due in August 2011 and 20 quarterly payments of $6.25 million starting in fiscal fourth quarter of 2011. In addition, Spansion has agreed to purchase Samsung's bankruptcy claim for $30 million, which Samsung has elected to apply against the first $30 million Samsung owes Spansion. Provided that the bankruptcy court approves the claim as requested, the purchase of Samsung's bankruptcy claim will enable Spansion to retire between 1.65 million and 1.85 million shares.

8:00AM Force Protection receives $22.48 mln in awards to extend field service representatives (FRPT) 4.68 : Co announces announced it has received two firm fixed price modification awards under contract M67854-07-D-5031 totaling approximately $22.48 million from U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command for the extension of field service representatives in Afghanistan.

7:52AM J. C. Penney provides further detail for timeline of leadership succession; upon joining the co as CEO on Nov. 1, 2011, Ron Johnson will report to the board, of which he will become a member on Aug. 1, 2011 (JCP) 34.20 : The board said that Ullman will remain in the position of executive chairman until Feb. 1, 2012, the beginning of the co's 2012 fiscal year, at which time he will step down from the co and its Board of Directors.

7:45AM Diana Containerships announces the delivery of the Panamax Container Vessel, m/v Maersk Merlion; chartered 24 months at a daily rate of $21,450 (DCIX) 6.76 : The employment of the vessel is anticipated to generate ~ $14.5 mln of gross revenues for the minimum scheduled period of the charter.

7:43AM Gold and silver, in electronic trade, tick to their lowest levels of the morning (COMDX) :

* Gold currently lower by $3.30 to $1535.80.
* Silver now off 44 cents to $35.31.

7:36AM RAM Energy Resources announces operational update to planned activity at Osage Mississippian oil play and other operational activity (RAM) 1.39 : Co announced an update to activity in its Mississippian oil play in Osage County, Oklahoma which encompasses the company's 56,320 acre concession, a part of the broad Mississippi Chat/Mississippi Solid/Arbuckle oil play in the region. Interpretation of the first phase of 3-D seismic (Phase I), acquired in 2010, and initial drilling results indicate that a substantial portion of the acreage surveyed could be prospective. Although the Mississippi Chat has been the company's primary objective to date, the company's practice is to drill through the Chat and through the Mississippi Lime formation in order to gather additional science for future development. The initial wells drilled have encountered Chat zones 40 - 70 feet thick and porosities ranging from 20% - 35%. Similarly, initial wells have drilled through Mississippi Lime zones of 100 feet or more in thickness with a porosity range similar to the 5% - 15% range of porosities experienced by other operators in the western portions of the play.

7:34AM Atlantic Power agrees to acquire Capital Power Income L.P. for CAD19.40 per unit (AT) 15.41 : Co and Capital Power Income L.P. jointly announce that they have entered into an arrangement agreement pursuant to which Atlantic Power will acquire, directly and indirectly, all of the outstanding limited partnership units of CPILP for CAD19.40 per limited partnership unit, payable in cash or shares of Atlantic Power. The agreed price of CAD19.40 represents a 4.1% premium to the CPILP closing price of CAD18.63 on June 17, 2011.

7:33AM Boeing signs orders and commitments for 17 747-8 Intercontinentals (BA) 74.16 : Co announced orders and commitments for 17 747-8 Intercontinentals. Placed by two undisclosed customers, the combined deals are valued at $5.4 billion at list prices. One carrier has committed to 15 of the new passenger version of the 747-8 while another carrier placed an order for two.

7:32AM Tsakos Energy announced a 4 yr time charter for the 2007-built 150,000 LNG carrier Neo Energy; charter is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year (TNP) 10.02 :

7:32AM Carpenter Tech to acquire Latrobe for $558 mln; CRS sees deal accretive in year one (CRS) 47.88 : Co and Latrobe Specialty Metals announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby Carpenter will acquire Latrobe in a transaction valued at approximately $558 million. In the transaction, 8.1 mln shares of CRS stock, subject to certain adjustments for working capital and pension, representing a current equity value of approximately $388 mln, will be issued to the current owners including Hicks Equity Partners and The Watermill Group. Carpenter will also pay $170 million in cash to eliminate Latrobe debt at closing and reimburse certain transaction costs. "We expect the acquisition to be accretive in year one, even including the one-time costs associated with the merger, and highly accretive in future years. Annual net synergies are anticipated to be in excess of $25 million. The combined entity should be a strong cash generator, with improved growth potential."

7:31AM PROLOR Biotech announced that its paediatric investigation plan for clinical development of its long-acting human growth hormone has been accepted for review by the Paediatric Committee of the EMA (PBTH) 4.60 : Co announces that its paediatric investigation plan for clinical development of its long-acting human growth hormone has been accepted for review by the Paediatric Committee of the European Medicines Agency. Following promising efficacy and safety interim results in its ongoing Phase II trial of hGH-CTP in growth hormone-deficient adults, PROLOR is now actively pursuing development of hGH-CTP for the treatment of growth hormone-deficient children.

7:31AM Harbin Electric agrees to enter into merger agreement to be acquired for $24.00 per share in cash (HRBN) 8.38 : Co has entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger with Tech Full Electric... Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, each of the co's shares of common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the merger will be converted into the right to receive $24.00 in cash without interest, except for Shares owned by Parent and Merger Sub (including shares to be contributed to Parent by Mr. Tianfu Yang, affiliates of Abax Global Capital and certain employees and officers prior to the effective time of the merger pursuant to a contribution agreement between Parent, each member of the Purchasing Group and Tianfu Investments, company directly owning 100% of the equity interest in Parent). Collectively, the Purchasing Group beneficially owns approximately 40.6% of the outstanding Shares. The Company's Board of Directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of a special committee of the Board of Directors comprised of solely independent and disinterested directors approved and adopted the Merger Agreement and recommended that the Company's shareholders vote to approve the Merger Agreement.

7:30AM Acura Pharma and Pfizer (PFE) announce FDA approval of Oxectatm CII (ACUR) 3.87 : The cos announce the marketing approval from the FDA of OXECTATM (oxycodone HCl, USP) Tablets CII. OXECTA is indicated for the management of acute and chronic moderate to severe pain where the use of an opioid analgesic is appropriate.

7:24AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Riyadh Valley of King Saud University announced it has entered into partnership with Cerner (CERN) and Zamil Group to form Riyadh Valley HIS Company.
* Teleflex (TFX) announced the addition of VasoNova Vascular Positioning System to its existing Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters agreement with Amerinet. The agreement began May 1, 2011 and runs through April 30, 2014.
* Elavon, a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (USB) releases SAFE-T Suite, its Secure and Flexible Encryption and Tokenization portfolio of products and services that helps companies protect data at every point in the transaction lifecycle.
* DineEquity (DIN) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, IHOP Franchise Company has signed a multi-restaurant franchise agreement with an affiliated entity of M.H. Alshaya for the development of 40 new IHOP Restaurants in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Egypt.
* IsoRay (ISR) announced a new dual therapy study using Cesium-131 brachytherapy and external beam radiation. Multiple sites have now received Institutional Review Board approval for this study which will examine the efficacy of combining intensity modulated radiation with Cesium-131 brachytherapy to treat intermediate and high risk early stage prostate cancer.
* Reliance Entertainment selected Accenture (ACN) to integrate a revenue-generating digital rights management system for two of its businesses.
* American Airlines (AMR) and future oneworld alliance member, airberlin, have expanded their codeshare relationship to include airberlin's new service between New York's Kennedy International Airport and Berlin-Tegel.
* China Information Technology (CNIT) announced that its project with Shuohuang Railway Development has made important breakthroughs having recently passed its appraisal phase, and now entering its implementation phase.
* Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA) conducted a CAD52mln ($53 mln) two-day unreserved public equipment auction at the Company's permanent site in Edmonton.
* Rural/Metro (RURL) announced that it has finalized a new contract to continue as the City of San Diego's exclusive provider of emergency ambulance
services through June 2013.

7:10AM Therasense files New Drug Submission for EGRIFTA With Health Canada (THER) 4.62 : Currently, there are no approved treatments for lipodystrophy in HIV patients available in Canada.

7:06AM Spectrum Pharma provides positive data for ZEVALIN (SPPI) 8.80 : Co announces that various studies on ZEVALIN for Injection were presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma. In an oral discussion on the topic of "Controversies in Follicular Lymphomas," an oral presentation entitled Radio-Immunotherapy Consolidation vs. Rituximab-Maintenance in First Remission Follicular Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma - The Case for RIT. The presentation provided a comparative evaluation of the ECOG 1496 Study, in which newly diagnosed patients with indolent lymphoma were induced with CVP and responders were subsequently randomized between rituximab maintenance, once per week for 4 weeks every 6 months x4; and the FIT trial, where various chemo-induction regimens were allowed after which partial responders or complete responders were randomized between one infusion of ZEVALIN versus no further treatment. CR rates after induction chemotherapy were 16% versus 52% , increasing to 37% and 87% , due to 22% and 78%, respectively, of patients in PR converting to CR. With more than 4 years and 6-1/2 years median follow-up, the median PFS was prolonged with ZEVALIN by 3 years in both studies, as compared to controls. In patients achieving a CR after ZEVALIN, the PFS increased more than 5 years as compared to controls.

7:06AM BioSpecifics Tech announces Board authorization of up to $2 mln share repurchase program (BSTC) 23.26 :

7:05AM Ducommun to offer $200 mln in senior unsecured notes due 2018 to fund LaBarge (LB) acquisition (DCO) 19.56 :

7:03AM Heckmann acquires Consolidated Petroleum to broaden service offerings for water solutions (HEK) 5.70 : Co announces its acquisition of Consolidated Petroleum, a private full service water pumping and delivery service company providing water transfer solutions to oil and gas customers engaged in hydraulic fracturing. Assets acquired through the transaction include approximately 180 miles of portable poly and aluminum pipe.

7:02AM Chesapeake Lodging Trust acquires Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter for $55.5 mln (CHSP) 17.07 : Co announces that it has acquired the 210-room Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter for a purchase price of $55.5 million, or approximately $264,000 per key, from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). The co funded the acquisition with a borrowing under its revolving credit facility. The Company entered into a long-term management agreement with IHG to continue operating the hotel under the Hotel Indigo flag.

6:54AM Akzo Nobel N.V. announces EUR140 million investment in Frankfurt (AKZOY) 66.69 : AkzoNobel is investing EUR140 million to convert its chlorine plant in Frankfurt, Germany, to state-of- the-art membrane electrolysis technology. The new facility, which will increase current capacity by around 50 percent, will help to reinforce the company's leadership positions in Europe's caustic lye and chloromethanes markets, while the total eco-footprint per ton of product will be improved by nearly 30 percent. Due to come on stream in the fourth quarter of 2013, the Frankfurt operations will apply the latest membrane technology and enable the business to increase annual production of chlorine at the location to an expected 250 kilotons, up from 165 kilotons today.

6:52AM Royal Bank of Canada confirms that it will sell its U.S. retail banking unit to PNC; RY sees deal accretive to 2012 earnings (RY) 55.54 : RBC will sell its U.S. regional retail banking operations to the PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), for ~US$3.62 bln consisting of US$3.45 billion for the purchase of RBC Bank (USA) and US$165 mln for the purchase of related credit card assets. The purchase price is comprised of cash and PNC common stock of up to US$1 bln at PNC's option. RBC expects the transaction to result in an estimated loss of C$1.6 billion under Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) on an after-tax basis, which includes an estimated goodwill write off of C$1.3 bln (C$1.4 bln pre-tax). The estimated loss will be recorded in the current quarter. The purchase price is subject to an adjustment at close for actual net tangible asset value delivered, which is not expected to have a material impact on the loss. All amounts are based on estimates and are subject to change. Had this transaction taken place as at April 30, 2011, on a pro forma basis, RBC's Tier 1 capital and Tier 1 common equity ratios would have improved by ~140 bps and 100 bps respectively. This transaction is expected to be accretive to earnings in 2012. All amounts are based on estimates and are subject to change.

6:49AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Jubilant Biosys Bengaluru based subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences and Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) announced that they have achieved a late stage discovery milestone in their joint program focused on cancer.
* JAKKS Pacific's (JAKK) Tollytots division has signed a worldwide master toy license with Dorel Juvenile Group, a division of Dorel Industries and the nation's largest juvenile products manufacturer, for baby products and accessories.
* GTx (GTXI) announced that it initiated a Phase IIb clinical trial evaluating Capesaris, a selective estrogen receptor alpha agonist, compared to Lupron Depot for first line treatment of advanced prostate cancer.
* Tri-Valley (TIV) announced that it recently established a Special Committee of the TVC OPUS 1 Drilling Program and held its first meetings with the Special Committee on June 15 and 16, 2011. During the meetings, the co and the Special Committee covered a range of key business issues that both parties see as an important step for advancing the development of the Pleasant Valley Oil Sands Project in Oxnard, California.

6:35AM PNC Bank confirms it will buy RBC's US retail bank unit for $3.45 bln, at ~97% of tangible book value; PNC sees deal accretive by the end of 2013 (PNC) 55.54 : PNC confirms it will acquire RBC Bank (USA), the U.S. retail banking subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, for $3.45 bln, or $112 mln discount to tangible book value; PNC expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings by the end of 2013 or sooner depending on the amount, if any, of the $3.45 bln purchase price paid in the form of PNC common stock. Under terms of the agreement, PNC will have the option to deliver to Royal Bank of Canada at closing up to $1.0 bln of the consideration in common stock, or 3% of PNC's outstanding common shares based on PNC's closing price of $57.79 on June 17, 2011. The transaction has an estimated internal rate of return to PNC in excess of 19%. The purchase price is currently estimated at ~97% of RBC Bank (USA) tangible book value, based on its balance sheet as of April 30, 2011, and reflects a negative 0.6% deposit premium. The acquisition adds ~$19 bln of deposits and $16 bln of loans based on RBC Bank (USA) balances as of April 30, 2011. PNC plans to incur merger and integration costs of ~$322 mln and achieve a reduction of ~$230 mln, or 27%, of RBC Bank (USA) noninterest expense through operational and administrative efficiency improvements. PNC expects to fund the cash consideration with cash on hand, debt issuance and a preferred stock offering. Consideration paid in the form of PNC common stock, if any, will be limited so that Royal Bank of Canada's direct and indirect ownership of PNC common stock will not exceed 4.9% of PNC's outstanding common shares immediately following the close. The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both cos, is expected to close in March 2012. When combined with PNC's existing network, the co will have 2,870 branches, ranking it 5th among U.S. banks.

6:30AM Statoil ASA provides long-term growth strategy update expects to raise production from around 1.9 mln barrels in 2010 to above 2.5 mln barrels of oil equivalents per day in 2020 (STO) 23.73 : Co presents its long term growth outlook. The co expects to raise production from around 1.9 mln barrels in 2010 to above 2.5 mln barrels of oil equivalents per day in 2020. With premium positions on a revitalised Norwegian Continental Shelf and a world class project portfolio, co states it is positioned to deliver strong shareholder returns. A first wave of new projects will provide a step-up in production in 2012, delivering around 3% CAGR 2010-2012. A second wave of projects will give further growth from 2014 and onwards, providing a 2-3% CAGR for the years 2012 - 2016 with production in 2013 expected to be around 2012 level. A third wave of projects will provide a 3-4% CAGR from 2016 to 2020, taking production above 2.5 mln boe per day in 2020. To realise the project portfolio Statoil increased investments for 2011 to $16 bln, and expects the investments in 2012 to be at the same level.

6:23AM RADCOM wins major deal with leading South American mobile operator valued at $2 mln (RDCM) 5.18 :

6:14AM Brigus Gold intersects 4165 gpt at New 147 gold zone at Black Fox Complex (BRD) 1.58 : Co announces that exploration drilling on the southern portion of the Black Fox Complex continues to return excellent gold assays over significant widths within the new 147 gold zone, including 3.96 grams per tonne over 50.00 metres that included 6.82 gpt over 20.00 m. In addition, bonanza grade gold mineralization of 2078.73 gpt over 2.00 m that included 4165.15 gpt over 1.00 m, and 61.78 gpt over 4.0 m that included 243.43 over 1.0 m was intersected in the footwall side of the 147 Zone.

6:13AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Joe's Jeans (JOEZ) announced that it has expanded its retail store strategy through the opening of its first store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at the Mirdif City Centre, a world-class shopping destination with over 200 stores new and unique to the Northern Emirates.
* Acacia Research (ACTG) subsidiary, Lighting Ballast Control, received a jury verdict of infringement and an award of damages in its patent infringement trial with Universal Lighting Technologies. The federal court jury returned a unanimous verdict that Universal Lighting Technologies had infringed all asserted claims of United States Patent Number 5,436,529 and awarded damages in the amount of $3 mln.
* Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (LORL) announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide a multi-mission spacecraft for Telenor Satellite.
* PAREXEL International (PRXL) announced that its Clinical Trial Management System is available as an on-demand, software-as-a-service (SaaS) application. The SaaS-based CTMS

6:11AM Zhongpin announces its top 2 Executives intend to purchase shares with personal funds of up to $1 mln in common stock in next 6 months (HOGS) 10.79 :

6:07AM Travelers acquires interest in JMalucelli investing $410 mln for excess of 30% stake; has an option to increase its interest to up to 49.9% within 18 months; expected to be modestly accretive to earnings in the first full calendar year (TRV) 57.92 :

5:45AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* ATK (ATK) is nearing completion of its state of the art Aircraft Commercial Center of Excellence in Clearfield, Utah.
* Aviation Partners Boeing (BA) announced that United Continental Holdings (UAL) has ordered Blended Winglets for its 767-300ERs. Initial installations of the systems, on 14 aircraft, are planned to commence in early 2012.
* The CIRCOR Aerospace Products Group, a business unit of CIRCOR (CIR), has been selected by Safran / Messier-Bugatti-Dowty to manufacture retraction actuators for their A330 and A340 main landing gear.
* Using a 4D walk-in simulator at the 2011 Paris Air Show, Raytheon (RTN) is showcasing its role as the leader in the development, manufacturing and installation of state-of-the-art situational awareness technology for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Raytheon's situational awareness technology can be added to existing aircraft with no operational flight program or mission computer impact, allowing aging instruments to be easily upgraded, quickly and economically, on platforms such as the F-16.
* CAE (CAE) and AirAsia announced that they have expanded their previous partnership into a joint venture agreement to provide training for pilots, cabin crew, maintenance engineers and technicians, and ground services personnel for airlines throughout the ASEAN region.
* Infinera (INFN) announced that Retegal has deployed the Infinera ATN metro WDM transport platform for a regional network delivering services throughout Galicia in northwest Spain.
* Broadridge Financial Solutions (BR) announced the launch of its post-execution processing solution for prime brokers and investment banks.
* Pluristem Therapeutics (PSTI) announced it has entered into an exclusive out-license agreement with United Therapeutics (UTHR) for the use of Pluristem's PLacental eXpanded cells to develop and commercialize a cell-based product for the treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension.
* Southwest Integrated Circuit Design and TowerJazz (TSEM) announced that SWID has selected TowerJazz's proven SiGe BiCMOS process technologies to develop its latest high performance RF integrated circuits.
* GE Aviation (GE) has been selected to deploy a Required Navigation Performance program at Jiuzhai Huanglong Airport, in the Sichuan province of China.
* Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) and Alexion Pharma International Sarl announced today that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Germany's healthcare regulatory body for biological products, has authorized initiation of an open-label clinical trial to investigate eculizumab as a treatment for patients with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli hemolytic uremic syndrome.
* VASCO Data Security (VDSI) announced that it will tackle the global SSL and EV SSL market with its own set of CertiID SSL and EV SSL certificates.
* Raytheon (RTN) has received a $10 mln contract to provide advanced airborne data processing for the Missile Defense Agency.
* Honeywell (HON) and French aerospace leader Safran have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture company to deliver an innovative new electric green taxiing system for new and existing aircraft. Honeywell and Safran expect it to be installed on new aircraft and retrofitted on to existing planes, beginning in 2016.
* Gold Resource Corp (GORO) announced having significantly increased its land position adding a sixth potential high-grade property to the co's Oaxaca Mining Unit.

5:16AM Boeing and Qatar Airways announce order for Six 777-300ERs; order is valued at $ 1.7 bln at list prices (BA) 74.16 :

4:12AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* Raytheon (RTN) has received a contract from Boeing (BA) to supply ALR-69A digital radar warning receivers and digital anti-jam receiver global positioning systems for the KC-46 tanker.
* Elbit Systems (ESLT) announced that its subsidiary Elisra Electronic Systems, was awarded a contract valued at ~EUR5 mln to supply hundreds of units of its AN/PRC-684 Personal Locator Beacon to the French MoD, equipping the French Air Force, Army, Navy and DGA. The project will be performed within 24 months.
* Honeywell (HON) and French aerospace leader Safran have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture company to deliver an innovative new electric green taxiing system for new and existing aircraft.
* PPG Industries' (PPG) aerospace transparencies group is launching the brand name of its craze-resistant, high-performance aerospace transparency material.
* Alcoa (AA) and Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) will debut for the aerospace industry a revolutionary fuselage panel at the 2011 Paris Air Show to highlight the promise of new aluminum-based production solutions for commercial airliners that are dramatically lighter, lower-cost and have lower production risks than composite-intensive aircraft.
* Carpenter Technology (CRS) has signed a ten-year agreement with Goodrich Landing Gear, a Goodrich (GR) business, for the supply of AerMet 100 alloy for use in military aircraft landing gear components for the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-35 Lightening II. The agreement will run through 2020.
* Hamilton Sundstrand has extended its Comprehensive Accessory Repair and Exchange agreement with Air New Zealand to provide repair services and asset management for Air New Zealand's expanded fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft. Hamilton Sundstrand is a subsidiary of United Technologies (UTX). Air New Zealand signed a 10-year agreement with Hamilton Sundstrand in 2007 for maintenance on its fleet of eight Boeing 777-200ERs.
* Teledyne Brown Engineering, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies (TDY), announced that it finalized its strategic alliance agreement with Aerojet-General, a GenCorp (GY) company.
* BTI Systems and DragonWave (DRWI) have teamed together to create an integrated solution to deliver cost-effective, scalable capacity across metro fiber networks.
* MoneyGram International (MGI) announced it has opened an office in Manila, the company's first in the Philippines.
* Goodrich (GR) has been selected by Cassidian to provide the TERPROM terrain referenced navigation system for the Airbus Military A400M versatile airlifter.

2:31AM On The Wires (WIRES) :

* BlueLinx Holdings (BXC) announced today that its registration statement for its previously announced $60 mln rights offering was declared effective by the SEC on June 17, 2011.
* RLI Corp (RLI) announced that its marine division has joined CargoNet; a network that battles cargo theft through data sharing between private industry and law enforcement.
* The Empire District Electric (EDE) announced that it has filed a request with the Kansas Corporation Commission for changes in rates for its Kansas electric customers. This is the abbreviated rate case procedure that was authorized in the KCC order in Empire's 2010 rate case. The co is seeking an overall annual increase in its Kansas operating revenue of ~$1.5 mln, or about 6.39%.
* The U.S. Navy completed a series of captive-flight tests on Raytheon's (RTN) Joint Standoff Weapon C-1, putting the warfighter one step closer to gaining a net-enabled standoff weapon with moving maritime target capability. Additionally, co re-introduced its 250-pound Paveway laser-guided precision munition to the warfighter inventory. Raytheon's combat-proven Paveway is a kit that transforms "dumb" bombs into precision guided weapons. Co also has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to produce the first airborne tactical hyperspectral sensor system.
* Alcoa (AA), OJSC RUSNANO and JSC Holding Inter-regional Distribution Grid Companies signed today a Memorandum of Intent to establish a joint venture for the development and production of nano-coatings.
* Medidata Solutions (MDSO) announced its latest services offering, Medidata Standards AcceleratorTM, which provides end-to-end support for the Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium study data tabulation model, the FDA's recommended format for electronic submission of case report form data.
* Tianyin Pharmaceutical (TPI) announced that the operating subsidiary of TPI, Chengdu Tianyin Pharmaceutical, has submitted the application for the renewal of its High Tech Enterprise Status at Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China.
* GE (GE) reached tentative agreements on new labor contracts with national leaders of its two largest unions, IUE-CWA and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, after four weeks of intense negotiations.
* Ur-Energy (URG) announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined that no major environmental impacts preclude licensing of the co's Lost Creek ISR Uranium Project. The NRC has completed its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Lost Creek Project and expects notice will be published in the Federal Register on June 24, 2011.
* Adobe Systems (ADBE) delivered an update to Adobe Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 software to enable developers to build applications for iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry PlayBook.

2:25AM Teck Resources updates Q2 coal guidance; expects coal sales at the low end of its previously announced guidance range of 5.5-6.0 mln tonnes (TCK) 44.61 : Co provides an update to its coal guidance for Q2. As a result of the February earthquake and tsunami in Japan, some of co's coal customers have deferred shipments due to reduced steel production requirements and Teck now expects coal sales in the second quarter at the low end of its previously announced guidance range of 5.5-6.0 mln tonnes. Co also now expects the unit mining cost of product sold to be in the range of $71-76 per tonne for the year primarily as a result of one-time costs related to labour settlements and higher than expected costs for items such as external mining contractors and diesel. Unit mining cost of product sold is expected to be higher than this range in the second quarter at ~$80-84 per tonne and then trend downwards in the third and fourth quarters as coal volumes increase. Co expects average selling prices for Q2 of 2011 to be ~$270 per tonne compared to its existing guidance of $280-290 per tonne. This is due to changes in the sales mix related to the deferred shipments to Japan.

2:20AM Curis presents Positive Vismodegib pivotal clinical data in advanced basal cell carcinoma (CRIS) 3.21 : Co announces that positive data are being presented by its collaborator Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (RHHBY), from a pivotal Phase II clinical trial conducted by Roche and Genentech of vismodegib in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma. The overall response rate in the pivotal Phase II trial as assessed by an independent review facility showed vismodegib substantially shrank tumors or healed visible lesions, with observed response rates of 43% of patients in the laBCC cohort and 30% of patients in the mBCC cohort. The clinical benefit rate showed vismodegib shrank tumors or healed visible lesions, or prevented them from growing any further in 75% of patients with laBCC and 76% of patients with mBCC, as assessed by independent review. The median duration of progression-free survival by independent review for both mBCC and laBCC patients was 9.5 months. The median duration of response by independent review was 7.6 months for both mBCC and laBCC patients. The median duration of response as assessed by study investigators was 12.9 and 7.6 months for mBCC and laBCC patients, respectively. There was no residual BCC in sampling biopsies of 54% of laBCC patients.

2:05AM Alnylam Pharma publishes new article in Nature describing discovery of central gene in mitochondrial physiology (ALNY) 9.03 : Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and collaborators at Massachusetts General Hospital announced new findings published in "Nature." Using an "integrative genomics" strategy that included RNAi technology, the study identified for the first time the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), which regulates calcium transport into mitochondria. This new discovery now enables molecular studies on mitochondrial calcium physiology with implications for advancement of new medicines across a broad range of diseases.

1:57AM Medtronic: VALOR II study highlights strengths of Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft (MDT) 38.19 : Co announces that the Valiant Thoracic Stent Graft System delivered excellent clinical results through one year of patient follow-up in the co's U.S. pivotal study. The study met all of its prespecified endpoints. The primary safety and effectiveness endpoints were 12-month all-cause mortality and 12-month successful aneurysm treatment, defined as the absence of aneurysm growth at one and 12 months, and type I and/or type III endoleak for which a secondary procedure was performed or recommended at or before the 12-month visit. Through one-year of follow up in VALOR II, the rate of all-cause mortality was 12.6%, with only 3.3% of mortalities deemed aneurysm-related. Nearly all patients (97.4%) achieved 12-month successful aneurysm treatment, and very few stent grafts (2.9%) migrated from their original placement.

1:52AM Silvercorp Metals authorizes share repurchase plan to acquire up to 10 mln shares until june 28, 2012 (SVM) 8.10 :

1:49AM Neutral Tandem provides final results of modified dutch auction tender offer; co accepts for purchase 3,273,994 shares of common stock at $16.25 per share (TNDM) 16.37 :

1:46AM Allos Therapeutics reports data shows activity of FOLOTYN in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-Cell lymphoma following treatment with CHOP (ALTH) 2.01 : CO announces results from a retrospective analysis of data from the co's pivotal PROPEL trial, which assessed the safety and efficacy of single-agent FOLOTYN as a second-line treatment in patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma who received CHOP as their first-line treatment. The highlights of the study include: Objective responses with FOLOTYN were observed in seven patients (47%) as assessed by independent central review and in six patients (40%) as assessed by local investigators. Complete responses, meaning there was a complete regression of all signs of disease in response to treatment with FOLOTYN, were observed in three of the 15 patients (20%), based on independent central review, and four of the 15 patients (27%), based on local investigator review. Two of these patients went on to receive a stem cell transplant after responding to FOLOTYN and sustained complete responses for 20.9 and 27.2 months through the time of last contact. Median duration of response, by independent central review, had not yet been reached at the time of analysis; by local investigator review, the median duration of response was 12.5 months. Progression-free survival was 8.1 months by independent central review and 7.4 months per local investigator review. Median overall survival was not able to be estimated as 11 (75%) of the 15 patients were still alive at the time of last contact; the 12-month overall survival estimate was 73%.
http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/inplay