6:05 pm Smith & Wesson raises Q3 and FY15 guidance (SWHC) :

• Co issues raised guidance for Q3 (Jan), sees EPS of $0.39-0.41 from $0.27-0.29 vs. $0.29 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 (Jan) revs of $175-180 mln from $150-155 mln vs. $155.12 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues raised guidance for FY16 (Apr), sees EPS of $1.36-1.41 from $1.26-1.31 vs. $1.32 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 (Apr) revs of $650-660 mln from $625-635 mln vs. $637.09 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Potential Peers: RGR, CAB

6:01 pm MFRI Inc. announces it will acquire 100% ownership of Bayou Perma-Pipe Canada; purchase price of ~$9 mln (MFRI) :

• Co announces that its Perma-Pipe subsidiary has signed a purchase agreement with its joint venture partner Aegion Corporation to acquire 100% ownership of Bayou Perma-Pipe Canada, a coating and insulation company in Alberta, Canada.
• Perma-Pipe has owned a 49% interest in BPPC since 2009, when the joint venture was formed with Aegion to serve the oil and gas industry in Western Canada.
• The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016. The purchase price of ~$9 million will be paid in cash at closing and is subject to certain post-closing adjustments.

5:41 pm Woodward and General Electric (GE) Aviation unit announces creation of the large engine fuel systems joint venture (WWD) :

• Cos announces the formal creation of the large engine fuel systems joint venture announced on May 20, 2015. Under terms of the agreements related to the joint venture, Woodward today received $250 mln from GE Aviation in exchange for GE Aviation's acquisition of its equity interest in the joint venture.
• The joint venture will design, develop, source, supply and service fuel system components from the inlet up to the fuel nozzle for the GE90, GEnx, GE9X and all future large commercial engines developed by GE Aviation.
  

5:32 pm Polaris Industries announces the acquisition of 509, a maker of snowmobile helmets and goggles; financial terms not disclosed (PII) :  

5:25 pm Enterprise Products announces various affiliates purchased a total of ~3.83 mln Enterprise common units at $26.11/unit (EPD) :

• Co announces today that affiliates of its general partner and privately held Enterprise Products Company purchased a total of ~3.83 mln Enterprise common units for ~$100 mln, or $26.11/unit.
• The purchase was executed through Enterprise's at-the-market equity issuance program. EPCO and its affiliates own ~34% of Enterprise's common units. Enterprise will use the proceeds from this transaction to fund a portion of its growth capital investments and for general company purposes.

5:13 pm Peabody Energy announces that it has amended elements of its 2013 agreement with the United Mine Workers of America (BTU) :

• Co announces that it has amended elements of its 2013 agreement with the United Mine Workers of America to resolve outstanding Patriot retiree healthcare benefit issues. This agreement improves Peabody's expected 2017 cash flows by $70 million.

5:12 pm Exelixis announces 'positive' results from subgroup analyses of the meteor Phase 3 pivotal trial; Data further underscore clinical benefit of cabozantinib across subgroups of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (EXEL) :

• Co announced the presentation of positive data from subgroup analyses of Meteor, the phase 3 pivotal trial comparing cabozantinib to everolimus in 658 patients with renal cell carcinoma who have experienced disease progression following treatment with a VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor.
• METEOR data are the foundation for the U.S. NDA filing submitted last month, EU filing planned for early 2016
• Cabozantinib treatment resulted in benefits in progression-free survival, the trial's primary endpoint, and objective response rate, a secondary endpoint, across various prespecified and post-hoc analysis subgroups. Importantly, observed benefits were independent of the location and number of organ metastases, tumor burden, the type, duration and number of prior VEGF receptor TKI therapies, and prior PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.
• Updated ORR results from the full 658-patient study population will also be presented at ASCO GU for the first time. As assessed by independent radiology committee, the ORR across all 658 patients was 17% for cabozantinib and 3% for everolimus. The median duration of response for cabozantinib was not reached (95% CI 7.2 months; not reached), as compared to 7.4 months (95% CI 1.9 months; not reached) for everolimus. As previously reported at the ECC in September 2015, the ORR for the first 375 patients enrolled was 21% for cabozantinib and 5% for everolimus.
• At the time of the interim analysis, the p-value of 0.0019 to achieve statistical significance was not reached, and the trial will continue to the final analysis of OS anticipated in 2016.
  

5:06 pm Huttig Building Products announces it is now the exclusive distributor of Maibec (HBP) :

• Co announces that they have entered a multi-year distribution agreement to be the exclusive distributor of the complete line of Maibec cedar sidings and shingles. Maibec is the leading provider of this product category.

5:05 pm Empire Resorts announces commencement of rights offering for $290 mln (NYNY) :

• Co announces that it has commenced a rights offering for approximate gross proceeds of $290 mln. Empire has granted, at no charge to the holders of record of its common stock and Series B Preferred Stock as of January 4, 2016, the record date for the rights offering, one transferable subscription right for each 0.4748644 shares of common stock owned, or into which the Series B Preferred Stock is convertible, as more fully described in the prospectus supplement relating to the rights offering.

5:03 pm Activision Blizzard announces the acquisition of the business of Major League Gaming, a company that streams premium live gaming events; terms not disclosed (ATVI) :  

5:01 pm Acceleron Pharma announces proposed $150 mln offering of common stock (XLRN) :

• Co announces that it intends to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, $150 mln of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.
• Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to conduct clinical trials and associated activities in connection with ACE-083.

4:56 pm Eclipse Resources announces Q4 operational update; co believes it is on pace to exceed the high end of its Q4 and FY production guidance range (ECR) :

• Co continues to closely monitor the commodity price environment, and the Company currently plans to minimize its drilling and completion activity until commodity prices improve. Despite its drilling cessation, which the Company initiated in November of 2015, the Company believes it is on pace to exceed the high end of its fourth quarter 2015 and full year production guidance range. Based on preliminary estimates, which are subject to change as final sales figures are determined, the Company currently anticipates that it exited 2015 with ~268 MMcfe per day of net production with fourth quarter 2015 average net production of at least 236 MMcfe per day, and full year 2015 average net production of ~206 MMcfe per day. Additionally, the Company estimates that it exited the year with $281 mln in liquidity derived from its undrawn revolving credit facility and cash on hand of ~$184 mln.
• For the first quarter 2016, the Company anticipates capital expenditures of ~$33 mln, which will include the drilling and completion of 1 net, extended reach well along with associated land and non-operated activity that was commenced in the fourth quarter of 2015.

4:49 pm Qualstar announces that its Board of Directors has approved a change in the Company's fiscal year-end to December 31 from June 30 (QBAK) :

• As a result of the change, the Company's next fiscal year-end will be December 31, 2016. In addition, the Company will file a Transition Report on Form 10-K for the six month period ending December 31, 2015. This change in fiscal year-end from June 30 to December 31 is being made by the Company to better align the Company's financial reporting calendar with its customer base.

4:47 pm RCS Capital announces that it has reached an agreement in principle with certain of its key stakeholders for a new investment of $150 mln and the restructuring of its debt and capital structure (RCAP) :

• Co announces that it has reached an agreement in principle with certain of its key stakeholders for a new investment of $150 mln and the restructuring of its debt and capital structure.
• This agreement, which is supported by a steering committee of first- and second-lien lenders representing a majority of the principal amount outstanding, will allow the Company to restructure its debt and balance sheet and to focus on its retail advice division, Cetera Financial Group, one of the nation's leading networks of independent broker-dealer firms.
• The Company expects the restructuring to position Cetera for long-term profitable growth under its existing senior management team, which will continue to be led by R. Lawrence "Larry" Roth as Chief Executive Officer of Cetera.
• To implement its financial restructuring, RCS Capital intends to file a voluntary petition for a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late January 2016.
• The proposed balance sheet restructuring has support from holders representing a majority in principal amount of first- and second-lien lenders and contemplates a reduction of debt and the elimination of preferred stock representing in excess of $500 mln in the aggregate.
• RCS Capital also announced that, over the past several months, the Company has made substantial progress in selling or closing non-core assets of the Company in addition to other corporate governance and leadership changes.  These Steps include: The sale of Hatteras for $5.5 mln to its prior owners and management and the elimination of approximately $20 mln of earn out liabilities, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016.
• In addition, the Company announced that it has entered into forbearance agreements with a majority of first- and second-lien lenders and the holders of its existing convertible notes, which include: A forbearance until January 29, 2016 that allowed the Company to forgo the payment of $19.4 mln of principal and interest that would otherwise have been due on December 31, 2015

4:43 pm Ensign Group acquires 3 South Carolina skilled nursing facilities; to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2016 (ENSG) :

• Co announces that it acquired the operations and real estate of Compass Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 95-bed skilled nursing facility in Conway, South Carolina, Las Calinas Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Opus Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility in West Columbia, South Carolina. The acquisitions were effective December 31, 2015.
• Co expects the new operations, which have a combined occupancy rate of ~65% at acquisition, to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2016.
  

4:41 pm CLECO Corp and investor group enhance commitments; the investor group has offered to increase customer rate credits to $125 mln over 15 years (CNL) :

• Co, the parent ofregulated electric utility Cleco Power, and a group of North Americaninfrastructure investors led by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation with JohnHancock Financial and other infrastructure investors recently filed post-hearing briefs with the Louisiana Public ServiceCommission addressing issues raised by LPSC Staff during the hearing withan Administrative Law Judge that began Nov. 9, 2015, as part of thestate's regulatory approval process of the proposed acquisition of Cleco by theinvestor group that was announced on Oct. 20, 2014.
• The transaction is pendingLPSC approval.At close of the hearing, LPSC Staff, Cleco and the investor group continueddiscussions, which produced an enhanced commitment package for the benefit ofCleco customers, communities and the region.
• Most significantly, the investor group has offered to increase customer ratecredits to $125 mln over 15 years, relative to what LPSC Staff proposed inits July testimony. In addition, customers will receive an estimated $1.2mln per year in cost-of-service savings from the transaction which willbring total customer savings to ~$143 mln over the next 15years.

4:36 pm Laboratory Corp announces recent study that demonstrates improved physician adherence to chronic kidney disease treatment guidelines (LH) :

• Co announces the results of a recently published clinical research study that demonstrates improved physician adherence to chronic kidney disease treatment guidelines through the use of LabCorp's innovative clinical decision support report.
• Treatment guidelines provide evidence-based information to help physicians and patients better manage diseases and chronic conditions. LabCorp's CDS report presents the CKD guidelines information in an easy-to-use format with clear action steps for the physician and patient to follow.
• The researchers found that physicians receiving LabCorp's proprietary CDS reports were 29% to 88% more likely to order CKD-related testing in accordance with guidelines than those physicians who did not receive the reports. Primary care physicians showed the greatest improvement in guideline adherence following receipt of the CDS report.

4:35 pm Bank of the Ozarks raises quarterly dividend half a penny (3.4%) to $0.15/share (OZRK) :  

4:33 pm Ensign Group acquires 3 South Carolina skilled nursing facilities; expects acquisitions to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2016 (ENSG) :

Co acquires the operations and real estate of Compass Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 95-bed skilled nursing facility in Conway, South Carolina, Las Calinas Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Opus Post Acute Rehabilitation, a 100-bed skilled nursing facility in West Columbia, South Carolina.

• The acquisitions were effective December 31.
• Co expects the new operations, which have a combined occupancy rate of ~65% at acquisition, to be mildly accretive to earnings in 2016.

4:32 pm Banc of California announces that its Private Banking Division grew deposits by over 48%, or $340 mln in 2015 (BANC) :  

4:32 pm Highwoods Prop (HIW) has agreed to sell Country Club Plaza portfolio in Kansas City for $660 mln to a Taubman Centers (TCO) and The Macerich Company (MAC) joint venture (HIW) : The Plaza portfolio, which is currently 95% leased in the aggregate, consists of 18 properties encompassing 804,000 square feet of retail space and 468,000 square feet of office space. The Plaza portfolio generated cash and GAAP net operating income of $31 million in 2015.

4:31 pm Luxfer increases quarterly dividend to $0.125/share from $0.10/share (LXFR) : Co declares an increase of 25% in the interim dividend to 12.5 cents per ADS, up from 10 cents previously. The dividend will be payable on February 3, 2016, to shareholders of record at close on January 15, 2016.

4:30 pm Gilead Sciences granted priority review by the FDA for Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir for the treatment of all genotypes of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection (GILD) :

• Co announces that the FDA has granted priority review to the company's New Drug Application for an investigational, once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir, approved as Sovaldi in December 2013, and velpatasvir, an investigational pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic genotype 1-6 hepatitis C virus infection.
• Gilead filed the NDA for SOF/VEL on October 28, 2015, and FDA has set a target action date under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act of June 28, 2016.

4:29 pm DDR details Q4 acquisitions and dispositions (DDR) : The co announced that it closed on the acquisition of seven prime shopping centers totaling $404 million and the disposition of 12 assets totaling $275 million at 100% ownership during the fourth quarter of 2015. For the full year 2015, the Company closed on $564 million of acquisitions and $1.0 billion of dispositions at 100% ownership.

4:21 pm Cynapsus Therapeutics completes a short-form amalgamation with its Adagio Pharma subsidiary to simplify the corporate structure and reduce admin costs (CYNA) : Pursuant to the amalgamation, all of the issued and outstanding shares of Adagio have been cancelled and the assets and liabilities of Adagio have been assumed by Cynapsus. No securities of Cynapsus were issued in connection with the amalgamation and the share capital of Cynapsus remains unchanged. The amalgamation will not have any significant effect on the business and operations of Cynapsus.

4:19 pm Cliffs Natural Resources announces an increase in the conversion rate of its 7.00% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock (CLF) :

The co announced that, under the terms of its 7.00% Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, Class A, the final quarterly dividend will not be paid in cash. Instead, pursuant to the terms of the Series A preferred stock, the conversion rate will be increased such that holders of the Series A preferred stock will receive additional Cliffs common shares in lieu of the accrued dividend at the time of mandatory conversion of the Series A preferred stock on February 1, 2016.

• In accordance with applicable law, Cliffs' board of directors determined not to declare a dividend payable in cash. The number of Cliffs common shares in the aggregate to be issued in lieu of the dividend is estimated to be approximately 1.26 million. This results in an effective conversion rate of .9052 common shares, rather than .8621 common shares, per depositary share, each representing one-fortieth of a share of Series A preferred stock.

4:18 pm Mitcham Ind acquires L-3 Communications' (LLL) Klein Associates; terms not disclosed (MIND) :

• Co announces that it has acquired L-3 Communications (LLL) Klein Associates, a designer, manufacturer and worldwide distributor of sonar and waterside security systems to military and commercial customers.
• "Furthermore, we expect this transaction will reduce Mitcham's dependence on the cyclical energy industry."

4:17 pm Alamo Group declared quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share, up from $0.08 per share prior quarter (ALG) :  

4:17 pm DDR offers FY16 guidance; raises annual dividend 10% to $0.76/share (DDR) :

DDR sees FY16 funds from operations of $1.19-1.25 vs $1.26 Capital IQ Consensus; same store NOI +2.5-3.5%; $0.76 dividend, no major capital raises; $600-800 mln in dispositions, $200-300 mln in acquisitions.

• "The aggressive transactions market encourages us to be a net seller of assets, which weighs on 2016 earnings but should benefit DDR in the future."

4:17 pm RetailMeNot appoints J. Scott Di Valerio as CFO (SALE) : Valerio most recently served as chief executive officer at Outerwall (OUTR), the company that created a network of 64,000 retail kiosks, including brands like Redbox and Coinstar. RetailMeNot. The co also announced that interim CFO Lou Agnese has been appointed as the company's senior vice president, administration. In addition, Jonathan Kaplan was permanently appointed to the role of general counsel and corporate secretary.

4:17 pm Closing Market Summary: Indices Begin the Year Lower (:WRAPX) :

The stock market ended its first session of 2016 broadly lower, following opening selling pressure that wouldn't ease until the last half hour of trading. The S&P 500 (-1.5%) finished ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.6%) and the Nasdaq (-2.1%), but the benchmark index fell below its 100-day moving average (2024). The major averages stumbled into the open after overseas concerns in China and the Middle East weighed down futures.

The selloff in futures began with weak economic data concerning manufacturing growth in China. Overnight, December's Caixin Manufacturing PMI was reported in at 48.2 versus an expected 48.9. This miss lead to heavy selling in the Shanghai Composite that eventually pushed the index lower by 6.9% before triggering a halt to trading under its circuit breaker provisions. 

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations with Iran following a protester-started fire at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran. This unrest followed the execution of a Shiite cleric by the Saudi Arabian government over the weekend. The initial news caused an increase interest in oil, but the commodity was unable to maintain today's advance and WTI crude ended its pit session down 0.8% at $36.76/bbl.

Today's selling was paced by financials (-2.1%), health care (-1.9%), consumer discretionary (-1.8%), materials (-1.7%), and technology (-1.6%) while energy (-0.2%), utilities (-0.3%), and telecom services (-0.5%) outperformed

The financial sector showed relative weakness from the start of the trading session with large cap-components JPMorgan Chase (JPM 63.62, -1.97) and Wells Fargo (WFC 52.91, -1.45) each outpacing the losses in the broader sector with declines of 3.0% and 2.7% respectively. 

Elsewhere, the top-weighted technology sector ended in line with the S&P 500 even though Apple (AAPL 105.35, +0.09) was able to rebound off its session low (102.00), ending higher by 0.1%. In other tech names, Alphabet (GOOGL 759.44, -18.57) was also able to pull off of its low, trimming its loss to 2.4%, while high-beta chipmakers outperformed the broader sector for most of the day. The PHLX Semiconductor Index ended the session lower by 1.1%. 

In the consumer discretionary space, Amazon (AMZN 636.98, -38.91) ended its day near its low following a downgrade at Monness Crespi & Hardt from Buy to Netural. The downgraded cited continued strength in the company but a possibly better entry point to enter or expand a position in the company. 

Today's selloff invited above average participation with more than a billion shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Meanwhile in Treasuries, the benchmark note spent the bulk of its day on its high before retreating. The yield on the 10-yr fell three basis points to 2.24%. 

It was a relatively quiet day on the economic front with data being limited to the December ISM Index and Construction Spending:

• The ISM Index for December declined to 48.2 from 48.6 (Briefing.com consensus 49.0)
• Construction spending decreased to -0.4% month-over-month growth in November (Briefing.com consensus 0.8%).
  • This release was lower than expected and included a revision from 1.0% to 0.3% month-over-month growth in October.

Investors will not receive any economic data of note tomorrow. 

• Russell 2000 -2.3% YTD
• Nasdaq -2.1% YTD
• Dow Jones -1.6% YTD
• S&P 500 -1.5% YTD

4:16 pm Sovran Self Storage exapnds existing revolving credit line by $200 mln, to $500 mln (SSS) :

• Co announces that it has exercised the expansion feature of its credit facility and increased the borrowing limit on its bank revolving credit line by $200 mln, to $500 mln. All other material terms and conditions remain unchanged, and the maturity date remains December 2019.

4:16 pm U.S. Physical Therapy acquires a 59% interest in a four location physical therapy practice for $4.97 mln (USPH) : The business has approximately 34,000 patient visits per year and generates $4.0 million in annual revenue.

4:15 pm WGL Holdings' Washington Gas to file new application with Virginia State Corporation Commission to acquire natural gas reserves (WGL) : The announcement follows the SCC's denial on November 6, 2015, of an initial reserves purchase application filed by Washington Gas. The initial application was the first of its kind under a Virginia law enacted in 2014 that permits natural gas utilities to invest in natural gas reserves that provide reasonably anticipated benefits such as cost savings, reduced price volatility and/or lower supply risk for gas utility customers in Virginia. Under the Virginia law, Washington Gas could have filed an amended plan within 60 days of the SCC's November 6 decision, which in turn would have required the SCC to review and approve or deny the amended plan within 60 days.

4:11 pm Akebia Therapeutics announces proposed $75 mln public offering as part of previously disclosed shelf offering (AKBA) : Co announces that it intends to offer and sell $75 mln of shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. All shares being offered are to be sold by Akebia Therapeutics. Co intends to use the net proceeds for the continued clinical development of vadadustat in patients with anemia secondary to CKD, including to prepare, initiate and conduct its PRO2TECT Phase 3 clinical trial and to prepare and initiate its planned INNO2VATE Phase 3 clinical trial. In addition, net proceeds are intended to be used to advance its product candidate, AKB-6899, through Phase 1 development in oncology. The shares are being offered pursuant to its shelf registration statement previously filed.

4:08 pm Star Bulk Carriers to sell four newbuilding Capesize vessels under construction in China to unaffiliated third parties for an aggregate gross price of $148 mln (SBLK) : The Vessels are expected to be delivered to the buyers during the first and second quarter of 2016. The Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the sale of the Vessels to pay the remaining delivery installments related to these Vessels and use the remainder for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures.

4:08 pm CBOE Holdings December total trading volume -20% YoY to 90 mln contracts (CBOE) : Total trading volume at CBOE in 2015 was 1.0 billion contracts, down 13 percent from the record volume in 2014. ADV was 4.1 million contracts, down 13 percent from the record ADV set in 2014.

4:07 pm Repros Therapeutics expects to meet with FDA to discuss 'Complete Response Letter' for enclomiphene NDA during February 2016; Marketing Authorization Application for enclomiphene planned for submission in Europe mid-2016 (RPRX) :

• Co has been granted a meeting with the Division of Bone, Reproductive and Urologic Products of the FDA to discuss aspects of the "Complete Response Letter" received on Nov. 30, 2015 for the enclomiphene NDA. The meeting will be held during February 2016.
• Co plans a central filing in Europe for an indication of enclomiphene for the treatment of secondary hypogonadism; believes the MAA will be submitted mid-2016

4:06 pm Safety Insurance President and CEO David Brussard to retire effective March 31 (SAFT) : The Board of Directors has appointed George M. Murphy, Vice President of Marketing, as the new President and CEO, effective April 1, 2016. Mr. Brussard will remain as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Safety Insurance Group, Inc.

4:06 pm Vericel submits Biologics License Application to the FDA for MACI for the treatment of cartilage defects in the knee (VCEL) : Co announces that it has submitted a Biologics License Application to the FDA for MACI (matrix applied characterized autologous cultured chondrocytes), the co's investigational autologous cellular product intended for the treatment of symptomatic cartilage defects of the knee in adult patients.

4:06 pm Akebia Therapeutics initiates Phase 3 Pro2tect program (AKBA) :

• Co announces several corporate and clinical developments consistent with its objectives for 2015, including dosing the first patient in its global Phase 3 Pro2tect program in December.
• This program is evaluating vadadustat in non-dialysis patients with anemia related to chronic kidney disease.
• In addition, the FDA recently opened Akebia's Investigational New Drug application, allowing the company to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of AKB-6899, an orally-available HIF stabilizer, in oncology. The company also made progress with its intellectual property efforts in Japan for vadadustat.
• The Pro2tect Phase 3 program includes two separate studies that will collectively enroll ~3,100 NDD-CKD patients across 500 sites globally.
• The first patient was recently dosed in the Pro2tect correction study, which is enrolling anemic patients not currently being treated with recombinant erythropoiesis stimulating agents.

4:03 pm Hologic announces that it delivered notice that holders of 2.00% convertible exchange senior notes due 2037 are eligible to convert (HOLX) :

• Co announces that it has notified holders of the 2.00% Convertible Exchange Senior Notes due 2037 issued November 23, 2010, and Wilmington Trust Company, the trustee, paying agent and conversion agent for the notes, that holders are eligible to convert the notes.
• The current conversion rate for the notes is 43.4216 shares of the Company's common stock per $1,000 principal amount outstanding, which is equivalent to a conversion price, as defined in the indenture, of ~$23.03/share.

4:02 pm Israel Chemical signs framework agreements with its customers in China to supply an aggregate 3.4 mln tonnes of potash over the next three years (ICL) :

The co announced that it signed framework agreements with its customers in China to supply an aggregate 3.4 million tonnes of potash (including options) over the next three years. According to the terms of the agreements, the selling prices will be established in line with prevailing market prices in China.

• The agreements, which represent a 3% increase over ICL's previous three-year framework agreements with its Chinese customers, call for the delivery of 1.1 million tonnes of potash in 2016, 1.14 million tonnes in 2017 and 1.16 million tonnes in 2018. Previous framework agreement quantities of 3.3 million tonnes (including options) were supplied in full.

4:01 pm PetroQuest Energy receives notice from NYSE that it is not in compliance with the continued listing standards (PQ) :  

3:52 pm Late push to new bounce highs -- Dow -314, S&P -36, Nasdaq Comp -119 (:TECHX) :  

3:45 pm Southern subsidiary Georgia Power announces settlement cost of ~$350 mln, significantly less than the claims that were in litigation (SO) :

Georgia Power, co's largest subsidiary, announces the completion of the settlement process between the co-owners (Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities) of the Vogtle nuclear expansion and the project's contractors, Westinghouse and CB&I.

• The agreement settles all claims currently in litigation with the contractors, reaffirms the current in-service dates, adds additional contractual protections and positions Westinghouse and its affiliates as the primary contractor over the project.
• Georgia Power's portion of the settlement cost is ~$350 mln, significantly less than the claims that were in litigation.
• Georgia Power plans to submit the settlement agreement to the Georgia Public Service Commission in the coming weeks.
• In tandem with the completion of the settlement process, co also announced that Westinghouse has contracted with Fluor Corporation (FLR) to manage the construction workforce at the Vogtle expansion site.

3:43 pm Panhandle Oil and Gas provides operations update (PHX) :

• The Company entered into a land lease agreement in the northwestern shelf area of the Permian Basin in late December 2015. The co leased out 4,052 acres of its undeveloped minerals in a 34.5-square-mile block located in southern Cochran County, Texas. The lease generated a $2.0 million cash bonus for Panhandle during the first fiscal quarter of 2016, and the Company will receive a proportionately reduced 25% non-cost bearing royalty from all production on the property. Additionally, Panhandle has the right to buy back a portion of the lease and participate with up to a 10% working interest in each unit when the initial well in each unit is proposed. Full participation by Panhandle would yield an average 10% working interest and a 12.1% net revenue interest in the project.
• The operator began drilling the first well on our 43.6-square-mile acreage block in Andrews and Winker Counties, Texas, in mid-December 2015. Panhandle will receive a proportionately reduced 25% royalty from all production on the property. The co also received a $1.2 million upfront cash bonus for the lease in June 2015 and have the right to buy back a portion of the lease and participate with up to a 10% working interest in each unit as initial unit wells are proposed. Panhandle elected not to participate in this initial well and unit, but instead chose to evaluate all data collected from the well to determine the economic viability of participation in additional wells as they are proposed and drilled. Full participation by Panhandle in the remaining 43 square miles of the block would yield an average 7% working interest and a 7.5% net revenue interest in all remaining wells in the project.
• During the first quarter, the Company also leased out approximately 970 net mineral acres in Woodward County, Okla., for an upfront cash bonus of $660,000 and an 18.75% non-cost bearing royalty.

After the three transactions discussed above, the Company still owns a total of 187,100 acres of undeveloped and unleased minerals in 10 states covering several different oil and gas producing basins. Of that total, 21,200 acres of undeveloped and unleased minerals are in the Permian Basin (Midland Basin, Delaware Basin, Central Basin Platform and shelf areas).

2:39 pm Earnings Calendar (:SUMRX) :

Today after the close look for the following companies to report:

• No notable companies scheduled

Tomorrow before the open look for the following companies to report:

• CMC

2:32 pm Energy Closing Prices (:COMDX) :

• FebruaryCrude Oil futures fell $0.32 (-0.86%)to $36.81/barrel
• FebruaryNatural Gas closed $0.01 lower(-0.43%) at $2.33/MMBtu
• FebruaryRBOB Gasoline closed $0.02 higherat $1.29/gallon
• FebruaryHeating oil futures closed flat at $1.13/gallon

2:25 pm Agriculture Closing Prices (:COMDX) :

• Marchcorn closed $0.06 lower at $3.52/bushel
• Marchwheat closed $0.11 lower at $4.59/bushel
• Januarysoybeans closed $0.05 lowerat $8.66/bushel
• Marchsugar closed $0.48 lowerat 14.92

2:25 pm Apple: AAPL pushes to session highs, turns into marginally positive territory here in early afternoon trading (AAPL) :  

2:12 pm Major averages drift back off bounce highs -- S&P -44, Dow -373, Nasdaq Comp -130 (:TECHX) : An S&P failure to hold above 1997 and 1995 intraday supports (recently pulled back to 1998) would keep the door open for another run at the lows. Initial supports under the low are at 1987 and 1980/1979.

2:09 pm AdCare Health Systems transfers operations of two facilities in Oklahoma, suspends its quarterly dividend; reaffirms guidance (shares halted) (ADK) :

The co announced that the operations of two facilities in Oklahoma have been transitioned to a third party operator on December 31, 2015. As a result, operations for all 38 AdCare facilities have transferred to third-party operators or are under management contracts with an indefinite term.

• The Board of Directors decided not to declare a cash dividend on its common stock for the fourth quarter of 2015. The Board will continue to evaluate the company's dividend policy throughout 2016. The Board believes that it is prudent and appropriate to retain capital to focus on specific areas of long-term value creation and near-term investments to maximize shareholder value. The company anticipates the need to make certain capital and other expenditures in 2016 in its existing leased facilities in order to maximize rental revenues and keep the facilities competitive in their respective markets. In addition, management and the Board anticipate having better clarity in several areas that may impact AdCare's financial position by the end of the first quarter, including professional liability costs and the timing of the collection of patient accounts receivable. While each of the above issues and other issues are not individually significant, the possible aggregate effects of such issues impacted the Board's decision to suspend the company's cash dividend on the common stock.

"With all operations transfers now complete, and the associated, remaining tasks scheduled to be completed in the next few months, we are reaffirming our guidance of post-transition Adjusted FFO of between $0.25 and $0.30 per share,"

1:54 pm Audiocodes receives a court approval to repurchase up to an additional $15 mln of its ordinary shares (AUDC) : Co has received a court approval to repurchase up to an additional $15 million of its Ordinary Shares, NIS 0.01 nominal value, through May 19, 2016. The share repurchases will be funded from available working capital.

1:39 pm Notable movers of interest (SCANX) :

The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

• BXLT (40.79 +4.51%): Bloomberg reporting that Shire (SHPG) is in advanced talks to acquire Baxalta for ~$32 bln in cash/stock, or between $46.50-$48.00/share.
• EPD (26.05 +1.82%): Increased its quarterly distribution by 1.3%, announced it plans to recommend a 5.2% increase for FY16's annual distribution and that affiliates of Enterprise Products Company and its general partner have indicated their intention to purchase a total of $200 mln of common units during the first quarter.
• NOK (7.15 +1.85%): Announced that it has gained control (80%) of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) through a successful public exchange offer.

Large Cap Losers

• JD (29.72 -7.89%): Chinese names under notable pressure after the Shanghai Composite dropped 7%, triggering a circuit halt (NTES, LFC also lower).
• TSLA (223.15 -7.02%): Reported Q4 deliveries of 17.4K vehicles, the low end of its guidance for 17k-19k vehicles.
• CMG (449.67 -6.29%): Downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer, price target lowered to $435 at Maxim Group.

Mid Cap Gainers

• GFI (2.97 +7.22%): Gold stock rallying as the futures of the precious metal jump $15 (AU, ABX, KGC also higher).
• LULU (56.05 +6.82%): Upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo, upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• FEYE (21.84 +5.31%): Initiated with a Buy at Summit Research.

Mid Cap Losers

• QUNR (45.62 -13.5%): Announced that Chenchao Zhuang and Yilu Zhao will no longer serve as CEO and CFO, respectively; China broad weakness also weighs.
• OPHT (71.85 -8.51%): Biotech hit hard as health care underperforms (RARE, PTLA, TSRO, NVAX among names lower).
• P (12.45 -7.16%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey, Barron's also out cautious this weekend saying shares could fall more than 20%.

1:38 pm Metal Closing Prices (:COMDX) :

• Februarygold ended today's session up $15.80 to $1075.4/oz
• Marchsilver closed today's session $0.04 higher(0.29%)at $13.85/oz
• Marchcopper closed $0.06 lower(2.8%)at$2.08/oz

1:31 pm Oak Valley Bancorp promotes Rick McCarty to SVP and Chief Administrative Officer and appoints Jeff Gall SVP and CFO (OVLY) : With the promotion, McCarty, who previously held the Chief Administrative Officer and CFO positions concurrently, will transfer CFO obligations and accountabilities to Jeff Gall, who has been the VP of Finance and Accounting for the co since 2006. Gall is being elevated to Senior Vice President, CFO.

1:16 pm Stock indices able to extend push off morning lows -- Dow -347, S&P -39, Nasdaq Comp -120 (:TECHX) :  

1:08 pm Midday Market Summary: Indices Broadly Lower at Midday (:WRAPX) :

Equity indices show substantial midday losses following sharp opening declines in all the major averages. Global growth concerns and tensions in the Middle East have been the focal points of today's decline, while economic data has also been disappointing. The stock market is trading near its session low with the S&P 500 (-2.3%) trading ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial (-2.4%) and the Nasdaq (-2.8%).

The new trading year has started on a sharply lower note following overseas action in Asia. The selloff began with weak economic data out of China, which included a disappointing December's Caixin Manufacturing PMI reading (48.2 versus an expected 48.9). This report was followed by a 6.9% plummet in the Shanghai Composite, which ended its day early due to a halt courtesy of circuit breaker provisions.

Elsewhere, tensions in the Middle East also weigh on the market, as Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations with Iran overnight. This move followed protesters setting fire to the Saudi embassy in Tehran, after the execution of a Shiite cleric by the Saudi government. The initial news lead to an initial increased interest in oil, but the rally was unable to hold. WTI crude currently trades lower by 1.1% at $36.63/bbl.

The utilities sector (-0.6%) is on the top of the leaderboard, followed by telecom services (-1.0%), energy (-1.2%), and consumer staples (-1.7%). On the flipside, financials (-2.5%), health care (-2.4%), technology, (-2.3%), and consumer discretionary (-2.3%) trail. Interesting to note, three of the top four performers are countercyclical sectors with only health care behind the broader market.

In the financial space, large-cap components JP Morgan Chase (JPM 63.32, -2.27) and Wells Fargo (WFC 52.71, -1.65) weigh on the broader sector with losses of 3.4% and 3.0% respectively.

Elsewhere, it is interesting to note that some of the hardest hit stocks today were some of the best performers in 2015. Netflix (NFLX 107.90, -6.46) has slipped 5.6% on little news as Amazon (AMZN 640.65, -34.25) follows suit with a decline of 5.2%. To be fair though, other large-cap tech and discretionary names are being sold off as well, with Alphabet (GOOGL 759.00, -18.99), Facebook (FB 101.83, -2.82) and Disney (102.59, -2.47) each sporting losses between 2.4% and 2.7%

The early selling has been widespread with declining issues at the NYSE outpacing advancers by a 4:1 ratio.

Treasuries hold gains with the 10-yr yield down five basis points at 2.22%.

It was a relatively quiet day on the economic front with data being limited to the December ISM Index and Construction Spending. The ISM Index for December declined to 48.2 from 48.6 (Briefing.com consensus 49.0) Construction spending decreased to -0.4% month-over-month growth in November (Briefing.com consensus 0.8%). This release was lower than expected and also included a revision from 1.0% to 0.3% month-over-month growth in October.

1:02 pm MELA Sciences changes name to STRATA Skin Sciences; will trade under the symbol 'SSKN' effective January 5 (MELA) :  

1:01 pm Index Changes Reminder: Willis Group (WSH) will replace Fossil (FOSL) in the S&P 500, and FOSL will replace Towers Watson (TW) in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading (:INDXCH) :  

1:01 pm TD Ameritrade releases its Investor Movement Index for December, clients were net buyers of equities in December; Upward trend continues as clients were slightly more exposed to the equity market (AMTD) :

The December 2015 Investor Movement Index for the four weeks ending December 24, 2015, reveals:

• Reading: 4.92 (compared to 4.88 in November)
• Trend direction: Positive
• Trend length: 3 months
• Score relative to historic ranges: Moderately high
• Net buying in December helped to increase the IMX slightly, to 4.92.

This December's IMX reading is only slightly higher than November's reading. Net buying in TD Ameritrade client accounts contributed to an increase in exposure to the equity market and, in turn, an increase to the IMX. However, a reduction in volatility relative to the overall market in some widely held positions-like General Electric Co. (GE), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and Bank of America Corp. (BAC)-held the increase to a modest level.

1:01 pm Mesa Laboratories, Inc. acquires of certain assets and liabilities of two of its European distributors by the co's subsidiary, Mesa France; expects to add ~$300K to co's revs and be accretive to EPS (MLAB) :

Co announces the acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of two of its European distributors by the co's subsidiary, Mesa France SAS.

• Both of these companies were distributors of the Company's biological indicator products.
• Combined, acquisition of the BI distribution rights from these two companies is expected to add ~$300K to co's revs in the first 12 months and be accretive to co's EPS.

12:45 pm Dow -382 and S&P -43 edge to new recovery attempt highs, Nasdaq Comp -131 is probing its bounce high (:TECHX) :  

12:32 pm L'Oreal acquires 'key assets' from Raylon Corporation; terms not disclosed (LRLCY) : L'Oral's USA unit announced the signing of an agreement to acquire key assets from Raylon Corporation owned by the Hafetzfamily, a full-service wholesale distributor of salon professional products.The acquisition will expand SalonCentric's distribution coverage of salonprofessional products in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and portions of Maryland, West Virginia and New York, representing approximately 3,500 salons.SalonCentric was created as a distributor of salon professional products in2008.

12:25 pm Interactive Brokers reports its Electronic Brokerage monthly performance metrics for December (IBKR) :

Highlights for the month included:

• 628 thousand Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs), 6% higher than prior year and 2% lower than prior month.
• Ending client equity of $67.4 billion, 19% higher than prior year and flat to prior month.
• Ending client margin loan balances of $17.0 billion, 1% higher than prior year and 3% higher than prior month.
• Ending client credit balances of $36.7 billion, 17% higher than prior year and 1% lower than prior month.
• 331 thousand client accounts, 18% higher than prior year and 1% higher than prior month.
• 436 annualized average cleared DARTs per client account.
• Average commission per cleared client order of $3.88 including exchange, clearing and regulatory fees.

12:16 pm Accenture acquires CRMWaypoint; terms not disclosed (ACN) : CRMWaypoint is a supplier of cloud advisory and technology services in the Netherlands, specializing in Salesforce cloud solutions for sales, service and marketing.

12:03 pm Frontier Communications Executive Chairman Maggie Wilderotter to be succeeded by Lead Director Pamela D. A. Reeve effective April 1 (FTR) :  

12:02 pm TEGNA names Nicholas Lehman as Chief Strategy Officer (TGNA) : Prior to joining TEGNA, Lehman was president of Digital for NBCUniversal.

11:54 am Time Warner Cable announces it achieved its 'best ever' residential subscriber growth in 2015 (TWC) : 2015 highlights include: Customer relationship net additions of 618,000, Video net additions of 32,000, High-speed data net additions of 1 million, & Voice net additions of 1.036 million

11:52 am eBay - - 200 Day Alert (EBAY) : Today's -4% breakdown to a fresh multi-week low has price challenging its 200-day moving averages along its mid-October bullish gap along the $26-vicinity.

11:51 am European Markets Closing Prices (:SUMRX) : European markets are now closed; stock markets across Europe performed as follows:

• UK's FTSE:-2.6%
• Germany's DAX:-4.3%
• France's CAC:-2.5%
• Spain's IBEX:-2.5%
• Portugal's PSI:-1.5%
• Italy's MIB Index:-3.2%
• Irish Ovrl Index:-1.4%
• Greece ASE General Index: -1.6%

11:41 am Facebook's Oculus confirmed pre-orders for Rift will open on January 6 (FB) :  

11:38 am Actelion announces US commercial availability of UPTRAVI selexipag - (FDA approved on December 21) (ALIOY) : Submission of the registration dossier to other Health Authorities is ongoing with regulatory reviews underway in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan.

11:34 am Lockheed Martin announces it received a $528 mln THAAD Missile-Defense contract in December 2015 (LMT) :  

11:11 am S&P -54 slips to lowest level since early Oct (SPY) : S&P has flirted with its Dec and Mid-Oct lows in recent trade at 1991/1990 (1991 also 50% retrace of Aug-Nov rally). Relative sector weakness in Oil USO, Energy XLE, Oil Service OIH.

11:03 am New lows for major averages -- Dow -453, S&P -52, Nasdaq Comp -156 (:TECHX) : Momentum had slowed after the first 40 minutes of action but no buy side interest developed with the indices recently dropping to new session lows.

10:46 am Alibaba continues to slide intraday to probe its November low along the 75.64 area (BABA) : Next area of interest lies near its 100-day simple moving average (74.11) followed by its late-October bullish gap zone at 71.63/72.84.

10:46 am CIGNA displays relative strength, notches new session high of 146.87 (CI) :  

10:40 am New session lows for small-/mid-caps and Nasdaq 100/Comp, Dow -387 and S&P -45 are hovering slightly above their lows (:TECHX) :  

10:34 am General Steel (+132%) halted after extending surge higher (GSI) : GSI is a Chinese Steel stock with ~14 mln shares outstanding and a ~$51 mln market cap.

10:28 am Caterpillar lifts 1.5% off morning low after filling gap (CAT) : Gap down extension filled the daily gap at 65.82 (session low 65.72) with it rebounding as much as 1.5% off the low in recent action.

10:25 am Sector relative strength as S&P / Dow attempt to stabilize near supports (:TECHX) : Highlighted earlier the S&P test of 2000/1991 support with the Dow holding slightly above 17000/16981.  Sectors that have displayed intraday relative strength vs. the S&P on the market attempt to push off supports include: Oil Service OIH, Energy XLE, Retail XRT, Industrial XLI, Rail. 

10:23 am Praxair announces combination of joint venture operations in Southeastern US; terms not disclosed (PX) :

• Praxair Distribution, a subsidiary of Praxair (PX) announced its two joint venture companies operating in the southeastern U.S. have merged. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction involves merging Praxair Distribution Southeast LLC.
• NexAir will grow to have annual sales of more than $200 mln and 67 locations with the merger.

10:19 am SunEdison displays a solid recovery effort as it reverses initial opening weakness from below the $5-mark (SUNE) :  

10:16 am Nutrisystem probes its Dec low at 20.88 and attempts to stabilize -- session low 20.92 (NTRI) :  

10:15 am McEwen Mining appoints Colin Sutherland as President (MUX) : Sutherland most recently served as CEO and Managing Director of Archipelago Resources Plc

10:15 am Dow -371 pulls back near support zone, S&P -42 continues to hold at its support (:TECHX) : Noted earlier that the S&P was probing the mid-point of the 2015 range the 50% retrace of the Aug-Nov rally at 2000-1991. The Dow has extended back near the 17000 / 16981 (psych level, 38% retrace of its Aug-Nov rally).

10:06 am BlackBerry announces that Ford Motor (F) has ported its open source SmartDeviceLink technology to the QNX CAR Platform for Infotainment (BBRY) :  

10:03 am Stock indices slip back after weaker data, set new session lows -- Dow -405, S&P -45, Nasdaq Comp -135 (:TECHX) :  

10:03 am Ford Motor confirms Toyota Motor (TM) is adopting its open-source smartphone app interface software SmartDeviceLink (F) : Automakers PSA Peugeot Citron (PEUGF), Honda (HMC), Subaru and Mazda (MZDAY) are also investigating the software standard.

10:02 am BAE Systems announces it has been selected by the US Special Operations Command to develop a new electronic warfare system; contract worth more than $20 mln (BAESY) :

• Co has been selected by the U.S. Special Operations Command to develop a new electronic warfare system for the fleet of C-130J aircraft.
• The contract, worth more than $20 mln, is the first phase of a multi-phase program to upgrade aircraft system survivability and the capability to detect, identify, locate, deny, degrade, disrupt, and defeat threat systems in operational significant environments.
• The life cycle value of the contract is expected to exceed $400 mln.

10:01 am Tenet Healthcare jv United Surgical Partners International acquired Tennessee-based CareSpot Express Healthcare; terms not disclosed (THC) : United Surgical Partners International, a JV b/t co and Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe, has acquired Brentwood, Tennessee-based CareSpot Express Healthcare, a regional urgent care provider, from Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe. The acquisition adds 35 urgent care centers in Florida and Tennessee to USPI's growing portfolio of outpatient centers.

10:00 am Exactech sells substantially all of the assets of its dental biologics business to Salvin Dental Specialties; Financial terms were not disclosed (EXAC) : Co announced the sale of substantially all of the assets of its dental biologics business to Salvin Dental Specialties, through its Salvin Regenerative subsidiary. Salvin Dental is a privately held company doing business in more than 100 countries which develops, manufactures and markets regenerative biomaterials and surgical instrumentation specifically for implant dentistry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

10:00 am Toyota Motor accelerates its connected car technology initiatives; to commercialize new telematics system using SmartDeviceLink (TM) : Toyota's connected vehicle framework is anchored by the installation of a Data Communication. Availability will expand to additional regions and countries following the U.S. Adding DCM will connect Toyota vehicles to cellular telecommunications networks, expanding the ability to transmit data for products and services. Co has entered into an agreement with Ford (F) and Livio to establish an industry development and operation framework to deploy Livio's SmartDeviceLink. Toyota will also commercialize a telematics system using SDL.

9:59 am Kohl's displays a strong reversal of its opening weakness as price lifts over last Thursday's high of 48.77 for an "outside" day... (KSS) : Next level of interest is last week's/December high of 49.53.

9:59 am S&P -37 attempting to stabilize near mid-points (SPY) : The index slightly extended the opening swoon back near the mid-point of the 2015 range and the 50% retracement of the Aug - No surge between 2000 and 1991 (session low 1999).

9:56 am SPDR Retail displaying some intraday relative strength (XRT) : WMT held near its 20/50 day ema (60.39/60.53, session low 60.36) -- LULU +3.2%, CRI +2.1%.

9:56 am lululemon athletica stands outs among broader market weakness as price clears its 3-month resistance along the 54/55 area this morning.... (LULU) : 2 Upgrades (Wells Fargo; Jefferies) this morning has this Apparel name breaking out to a fresh 3-month high this morning.

9:51 am Seeing some relative strength in Energy related stocks (:TECHX) : WFT +1%, NOV +1%, NE +0.9%, BHI +0.9%, ESV +0.4%

9:51 am 22nd Century Group files Modified Risk Tobacco Product application with the FDA for low nicotine tobacco cigarettes (XXII) : Co announced that on December 31, 2015, its subsidiary Goodrich Tobacco Company, submitted a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (:MRTP) application to the FDA seeking a reduced exposure order so that 22nd Century's "BRAND A" Very Low Nicotine (:VLN) cigarettes may be introduced into commerce in the United States. The application to the FDA requests that BRAND A packaging and marketing be allowed to disclose to consumers that the proprietary Very Low Nicotine cigarettes reduce smokers' exposure to nicotine.

9:48 am Alphabet A extends gap down start to its 50 day ema at 751.33 -- session low 751.84 (GOOGL) :  

9:44 am Opening Market Summary: Indices Open Sharply Lower (:WRAPX) :

The stock market has opened sharply lower following heavy overseas pressure on U.S. equity futures. The S&P 500 (-1.9%) leads both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-2.0%) and the Nasdaq (-2.3%).

All ten sectors opened their day in the red with financials (-2.5%), consumer discretionary (-2.4%), and technology (-2.3%) leading the losses. On the top of the leaderboard, energy (-0.2%), utilities (-1.1%), and telecom (-1.2%) lead.

In commodities, WTI crude has been able to hold advance since the open with oil trading higher by 2.3% at $37.89/bbl.

Meanwhile, in Treasuries, the benchmark note trades on its high, with yield on the 10-yr note lower by five basis points at 2.22%.

9:43 am Stock indices extend gap down start -- Dow -382, S&P -42, Nasdaq Comp -119 (:TECHX) : Sectors on the plus side include: Gold Miners GDX +3.1%, Crude Oil USO +2.5%, Silver SLV +2.1, Gold GLD +1.7%.

9:41 am Last year's top performing Nasdaq 100 -109 gapped down near its 200 day sma at 4475 -- session low 4477 (:TECHX) :  

9:39 am S&P -37 probes its Dec/two month close low at 2005 (:TECHX) : The Dec intraday low does not come into play until 1993.

9:37 am Kinder Morgan displays relative strength as price is bid up over last week's 2-day highs along the 15-level (KMI) :  

9:36 am Facebook gap down start holding above its Dec low at 101.46 -- session low 101.60 (FB) :  

9:34 am Broad based weakness -- Dow -350, S&P-36, Nasdaq Comp -112 (:TECHX) : The weakest sectors in early trade include: Social Media SOCL, Airline JETS, Cloud Comp SKYY, Internet FDN, Broker IAI, Media PBS, Casino, Copper JJC, Solar TAN, Coal KOL, Bank KBE, Biotech IBB.

9:33 am Amazon - - 50 Day Alert (AMZN) : Gaps lower -3% to test its 50-day simple moving average in the 655-vicinity.

9:24 am Brinks enters into an agreement with 12.3% shareholder Starboard Value; elects three directors to the Board, CEO Thomas C. Schievelbein will step down and retire early (BCO) :

The co announced that it has entered into an agreement with Starboard Value LP, which has a combined beneficial and economic ownership of approximately 12.3% of the Company's outstanding common stock, regarding the composition of the Brink's Board of Directors. Under the terms of the agreement, the Brink's Board of Directors has elected Ian D. Clough, George I. Stoeckert and Peter A. Feld to the Board, effective immediately. Mr. Clough, Mr. Stoeckert and Mr. Feld will stand for election as nominees of Brink's at the Brink's 2016 annual meeting of shareholders, together with incumbent director Paul G. Boynton. In connection with the appointment of the new directors, Murray D. Martin and Ronald L. Turner have retired from the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

• Brink's also announced that Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas C. Schievelbein will step down and retire early, effective as of the date of the Brink's 2016 annual meeting of shareholders (or earlier, if a successor is appointed). The Brink's Board of Directors intends to promptly commence a search to identify a successor Chief Executive Officer, considering both internal and external candidates. In connection with Mr. Schievelbein's announced retirement, the Board of Directors will elect a non-executive Chairman of the Board from among the independent members of the reconstituted Board, whose selection will be mutually agreeable to Starboard and Brink's.
• As part of the agreement, Starboard has agreed to vote all of its shares in favor of the Brink's nominees at the 2016 annual meeting of shareholders and has entered into other customary standstill and voting commitments. The agreement between Brink's and Starboard will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Evercore and Morgan Stanley are serving as financial advisors to Brink's and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is acting as legal advisor. Olshan Frome Wolosky is acting as legal advisor to Starboard.

9:15 am National Cinemedia names Andrew J. England CEO and Director, effective immediately (NCMI) : England was EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of MillerCoors.

9:14 am S&P futures vs fair value: -37.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -101.20. (:WRAPX) :

Index futures signal a sharply lower open as S&P 500 futures trade 38 points below fair value.

Today's action comes on the heels of China's Shanghai Composite surrendering 6.9% following weaker than expected PMI data. The heavy selling would end the Shanghai Composite's day early due to circuit breaker provisions, halting the index. Similar to Chinese stocks, the yuan retreated, sliding to fresh four-and-a-half year lows against the dollar. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are also weighing on the markets, as Saudi Arabia suspended diplomatic relations with Iran overnight. This move followed protesters setting fire to the country's embassy in Tehran, after the execution of a Shiite cleric.

In commodities, WTI crude is higher by 1.2% at $37.49/bbl following the situation in the Middle East. Elsewhere in commodities, copper has declined 2.4% to $2.08/lb.

Meanwhile in Treasuries, the benchmark note trades near its high with its yield lower by five basis points at 2.22%.

9:08 am Canadian Solar has filed a prospectus supplement to sell up to $100.0 mln of its common shares through an at-the-market equity offering program (CSIQ) :

• Co announces that it has filed a prospectus supplement to sell up to an aggregate of $100.0 mln of its common shares through an at-the-market equity offering program. The common shares will be offered through Credit Suisse as sales agent.

9:05 am Digital Realty Trust sees FY16 FFO and revenues in line with estimates (DLR) :

• Co issues in-line guidance for FY16 (Dec), sees core funds from operations of $5.45-5.60 vs. $5.47 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 (Dec) revs of $2.0-2.2 bln vs. $2.06 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• "Foreign currency translation is expected to represent a headwind to core FFO per share of 1%-2% in 2016...We are seeing solid demand for Digital Realty's comprehensive set of data center solutions, which gives us confidence in our ability to achieve accelerating core FFO per share growth in 2016."

9:03 am Bavarian Nordic A/S files a Registration Statement with the SEC for a proposed initial public offering of American Depositary Shares (BVNRY) : The application is being made to list the ADSs on The NASDAQ Global Select Market in the United States under the symbol "BAVN."If the ADS offering is made, Bavarian Nordic expects to use the proceeds from the offering to accelerate its commercial vaccine pipeline, including its CV- 301 cancer immunotherapy and MVA-BN RSV program, as well as potential expansion of its existing manufacturing facility.

9:03 am Newtech forecasts paying an annual cash dividend of ~$1.50/share in 2016 (NEWT) :

• Co announces the results of the stockholder election in connection with the special dividend. Newtek's stockholders' elections were tabulated and ~87% of the shares outstanding elected to receive the special dividend in cash and 13% elected shares of the Company's common stock.
• Because the total amount of cash payable is limited to 27% of the aggregate amount of the dividend, 27% of the special dividend will be paid in cash and 73% will be paid in Shares. Stockholders who have elected to receive cash will receive $0.84/share, with the balance paid in Shares at the volume-weighted average price of $13.48/share.
• Based on the approximate count of 14.5 mln Shares outstanding at December 31, 2015, the Company is confirming its Q4 cash dividend of $5.8 mln, or $0.40/share payable on January 19, 2016 to stockholders of record as of January 7, 2016. In addition, the Company is confirming that its 2015 annual dividend will equal $20.9 mln, or $1.76/share.

9:02 am NF Energy Saving has recently signed a $1.36 mln sales contract with Huadong Power Design Institutes to supply 14 sets of flow control equipment for a project (NFEC) : The total order includes 6 sets of DN2400 butterfly valves, with energy storage tank type hydraulic control, and 8 sets of DN2800 electric butterfly valves. According to the contract, the Company will deliver the equipment in two shipments on August 25, 2016 and October 1, 2016 respectively.

9:02 am FuelCell Energy announces 5.6 megawatt fuel cell project with Pfizer (PFE) (FCEL) : Co announces plans for the installation of a 5.6 megawatt fuel cell power generation system for Pfizer (PFE) to provide reliable and low carbon electricity and steam for its 160 acre R&D facility in Groton, CT. Pfizer will purchase the power and steam under a 20 year power purchase agreement. The fuel cell installation is expected to be fully operational by summer 2016.

9:02 am Wipro appoints Abidali Z Neemuchwala as new CEO and Member of the Board (WIT) :

• Co announced the appointment of TK Kurien as the Executive Vice Chairman and Abidali Z Neemuchwala as the Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of the company. Both these appointments are effective February 1, 2016
• TK Kurien will continue to report to Azim Premji and will remain a Member of the Board until March 31, 2017.

9:01 am GigOptix guides Q4 above consensus; sees strong Q1 bookings (GIG) :

• Sees Q4 EPS $0.05 vs $0.04 Capital IQ Consensus; revs +6% to $11.1 mln vs $10.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus and $10.7 mln guidance. Increasing backlog driving revenue momentum; revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 expected to be similar to the fourth quarter of 2015 (consensus $10.3 mln), and countering the normal industrywide seasonality slowdown.
• Continued robust demand across all GigOptix's High Speed Communications (HSC) product line, primarily for its 40Gbps QSFP+ devices used in Web 2.0 OEMs data center links, and enhanced demand for its Industrial ASIC devices used in legacy and new Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications, resulted in both the higher than initially forecasted revenue for the fourth quarter, and led to strong bookings for the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

9:01 am United-Guardian receives FDA Approval to market new single-dose form of Renacidin (UG) :

Co has received FDA approval of its Supplemental New Drug Application to market a new single-dose form of Renacidin.

• The newly-approved drug product will be supplied in a 30mL single-use plastic bottle, and will replace the company's 500mL glass bottle.
• Co expects to have the new product available for distribution in March or April 2016.

9:01 am Raytheon confirms it was awarded a $255,281,689 fixed-price-incentive firm target modification (RTN) : Co confirms it was awarded a $255,281,689 fixed-price-incentive firm target modification to a previously awarded contract to procure mission system equipment for the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG 1002). This contract modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this award to $349,243,022. This was announced Thursday night (12/31)by the Dept. of Defense.

9:01 am Target promotes Janna Potts to executive vice president, chief stores officer (TGT) : Potts will replace Tina Tyler and will assume the position effective immediately

9:00 am CB Richard Ellis acquires CBRE | Memphis; terms not disclosed (CBG) : Co announces that it has acquired CBRE | Memphis, a commercial real estate services firm that has served as CBRE's affiliate in Memphis, TN, since 1996. CBRE | Memphis is the region's leading provider of commercial real estate services with the number one market position across the office, retail and industrial sector. Its comprehensive suite of services includes leasing, property sales, property management, project management and consulting. Terms not disclosed.

9:00 am Teva Pharma and Active Biotech announce discontinuation of higher doses of Laquinimod in two Multiple Sclerosis trials (TEVA) :

Companies announce the discontinuation of higher doses of laquinimod in two ongoing studies in multiple sclerosis after the occurrence of cardiovascular events, none of which was fatal, in eight patients.

• The change comes at the recommendation of the data monitoring committee overseeing two active clinical studies in MS.
• The DMC identified an imbalance in the number of cardiovascular events in the studies.
• Both trials, CONCERTO and ARPEGGIO, are continuing the lower-dose arms (0.6mg daily), and participants in the trials will be provided with an update to confirm re-consent for participation.

9:00 am WPCS Intl awarded nearly $2.0 mln in new contracts in December (WPCS) : Co announces that it secured $1,985,000 in new contracts in the month of December 2015 as compared to $765,000 during the same month last year. According to Sebastian Giordano, Interim CEO of WPCS, "While the end of the calendar year has historically been the slowest months for our business, our Suisun team has generated a resounding 159% increase in contracts signed for December 2015 as compared to December 2014. This follows last month's announcement of a 72% increase in November 2015 contracts signed as compared to November 2014. Meanwhile, we expect to accelerate the launch of our new security contracting operation in the Texas market to commence later this month."

8:59 am S&P futures vs fair value: -36.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -97.90. (:WRAPX) :

The S&P 500 futures trade 37 points below fair value. 

Markets across Asia greeted 2016 with a broad-based selloff that began in Japan and continued throughout the night after the release of disappointing PMI data from China. Accordingly, China's Shanghai Composite saw the biggest decline in the region, falling 6.9%. The aggressive selling led to a trading halt after the CSI 300 index briefly showed a 7.0% loss. Adding to the pressure was a disappointing Manufacturing PMI report from India (49.3; previous 50.3), which indicated contraction in manufacturing activities in the emerging economy.

• Investors received several data points:
  • China's December Caixin Manufacturing PMI 48.2 (expected 49.0; previous 48.6), December Manufacturing PMI 49.7 (consensus 49.7; previous 49.6), and December Non-Manufacturing PMI 54.4 (prior 53.6)
  • South Korea's December trade surplus narrowed to KRW7.20 billion from KRW10.30 billion (expected surplus of KRW8.82 billion) as imports fell 19.2% year-over-year (consensus -18.6%) and exports declined 13.8% year-over-year (last -10.9%). Separately, December Nikkei Manufacturing PMI 50.7 (prior 49.1)
  • Japan's Manufacturing PMI 52.6 (expected 52.5; last 52.5) India's December Nikkei Markit Manufacturing PMI 49.1 (previous 50.3)
  • Hong Kong's November Retail Sales -7.8% year-over-year (consensus -6.4%; last -3.0%)
  • Singapore's Q4 GDP +2.0% year-over-year (consensus 1.3%; previous 1.8%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei lost 3.1%, dropping to levels from late October amid selling in all but seven names. Sumitomo Chemical, J. Front Retailing, SUMCO, Yamaha, Honda Motor, Okuma, and Fast Retailing lost between 4.5% and 5.1%. On the upside, Toshiba gained 2.0%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.9%, returning into the neighborhood of its December low. Every index component ended the day in negative territory with China Resources Power, China Overseas, China Life Insurance, Li & Fung, and Belle International surrendering between 5.0% and 5.8%. Energy names fared a bit better than the broader market with CNOOC and Petrochina both falling near 1.0%.
• China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 6.9% amid heavy selling. Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China both lost near 3.5% while CITIC Securities and China Shipbuilding Industry fell 9.8% and 7.3%, respectively.

Major European markets trade broadly lower with the cautious sentiment carrying over from Asia where China's Shanghai Composite welcomed 2016 with a 6.9% plunge on the heels of disappointing manufacturing data. Meanwhile, the data in Europe has been mostly better than expected, but that has not stopped investors from selling equities in volume.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (expected 53.1; previous 53.1)
  • Germany's December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (consensus 53.0; last 53.0)
  • UK's December Manufacturing PMI 51.9 (expected 52.7; last 52.5) and Net Lending to Individuals GBP5.30 billion (expected GBP4.90 billion; previous GBP4.80 billion)
  • France's December Manufacturing PMI 51.4 (expected 51.6; last 51.6)
  • Italy's December Manufacturing PMI 55.6 (consensus 55.0; last 54.9)
  • Spain's December Manufacturing PMI 53.0 (expected 53.3; previous 53.1)
  • Swiss December SVME PMI 52.1 (expected 50.2; last 49.7)

---Equity Markets---

• UK's FTSE has slid 2.3% with all but three components trading in the red. Miners and financials have paced the retreat with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta, Standard Chartered, and Old Mutual down between 4.1% and 7.0%. On the upside, Randgold Resources has bucked the trend, trading higher by 2.0%.
• France's CAC is lower by 3.2%, which puts the index near its December low. ArcelorMittal is the weakest performer, down 7.1%, while consumer names like L'Oreal, Louis Vuitton, Kering, and Carrefour show losses between 4.1% and 6.0%. On the upside, Bouygues has spiked 1.9% amid reports Orange may acquire the company's telecom unit.
• Germany's DAX has plunged 4.1% with 29 of its 30 components showing losses of at least 3.0%. Deutsche Bank has sunk 5.5% while heavyweights BASF, Siemens, BMW, and Daimler are down between 4.5% and 5.0%.

8:56 am Agree Realty announces record 2015 investment activity and provides 2016 acquisition guidance of $175 -200 mln of retail net lease properties (ADC) : Total real estate investment activity for the year, inclusive of committed development capital, amounted to a record of $235 mln. The properties are leased to 45 industry-leading retail tenants operating across 20 sectors and are located in 25 states.

8:52 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• American Capital, Ltd. (ACAS) announced that in the fourth quarter of 2015 it made open market purchases of ~20.7 mln shares of American Capital common stock under its stock buyback program. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.44/share, totaling ~$298.4 mln.
• Genesis (GEN) has divested of its 18 Vintage Park Assisted Living assets located in Kansas. Genesis used the sale proceeds to repay $54.2 mln of its existing real estate bridge loan with Welltower with residual proceeds used to repay other indebtedness.
• Oppenheimer & Co (OPY) announces that Joan Khoury has joined the firm as Managing Director, Chief Marketing Officer. Khoury was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer for LPL Financial (LPLA)
• DHT Holdings (DHT) took delivery of a VLCC newbuilding from Hyundai Heavy Industries on January 4 and sold the DHT Trader, a 2000 built Suezmax, for $26.5 mln on December 30. The entire net proceeds are applied to repay debt under the RBS facility and are in support of the company's announced capital allocation policy. Co will record a book loss of $0.8 mln in connection with the sale, which will be recorded in 4Q15. The next newbuilding is scheduled to deliver early April 2016.
• Sterling Construction (STRL) announced that its affiliate, Road and Highway Builders, is apparent low bidder on a $61.0 million Federal Highway Administration project to perform reconstruction work on a 6.6 mile stretch of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway on the "Big Island" of Hawaii. The project will begin in 1Q16 and be completed in ~2 years

8:42 am Followup: General Motors invests $500 mln in Lyft, announces Autonomous On-Demand Network and rental hubs partnership; Saudis and Alibaba also involved in $1 bln round valuing Lyft at $5.5 bln (GM) :

Lyft is closing $1 billion with a $500 million investment from GeneralMotors (GM). GM will also have a seat on Lyft's board. Kingdom Holding Company invested $100 million making the total investment of Kingdom Holding and its affiliates ~$250 million. Several new and existing Lyft investors were also in the round including Janus Capital Management (JNS), Rakuten, Didi Kuaidi and Alibaba (BABA). Following this latest round, Lyft is valued at $5.5 billion, post money.

• In addition to GM's investment in Lyft, the companies are creating an Autonomous On-Demand Network. GM is at the forefront of autonomous vehicle development and Lyft is the leading innovator of software to automate ride matching, routing and payments. Together, the companies will work to help make this integrated network of on-demand autonomous vehicles part of people's daily lives.
• Lyft and GM will also work together on a series of national rental hubs where Lyft drivers can rent short-term vehicles, unlocking new ways for people to earn money without having to own a car.

8:36 am Suncor Energy confirms its offer to acquire Canadian Oil Sands Limited (COSWF) is set to expire January 8, 2016; Suncor to host webcast / Q&A tomorrow at 9:30am ET to discuss the value of its offer (SU) :  

8:34 am Gapping down (SCANX) : Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: NYMX -0.9%, (filed Q3 and restated Q2 financial statements; restatement resulted in material net reduction in loss)

Select China related names showing weakness after Shanghai closed down ~7% overnight: KNDI -11.6%, JKS -10%, JMEI -9.5%, VIPS -6.5%, WBAI -5.6%, JD -5.2%, RENN -4.6%, BABA -4.5%, BIDU -4.4%, CMCM -4.2%, CTRP -3.4%, YNDX -2.5%, CMRX -1.5%

Select metal producers trading lower: BBL -4.1%, FCX -4%, MT -3.8%, VALE -3.6%, X -3.5%, RIO -2.9%, BHP -2.8%

Other news: QTWW -11% (receives non-compliance from Nasdaq relating to the minimum bid price requirement, has until June 27 to regain compliance), PLUG -7.1% (cont volatility), WTW -6.9% (pulling back following recent strength last week), QUNR -6.4% (appoints Zhenyu Chen as CEO; announces additional mgmt changes), CSIQ -5.9% (files mixed securities shelf offering), SHAK -5.3% (still checking), TTM -5% (reports Dec sales), P -4.2% (Barron's profiles cautious view), FIT -4.2% (still checking), TSLA -4% (reports Q4 deliveries at lower end of guidance), WYNN -3.9% (Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported December gross gaming rev -21.2% YoY), VRX -3.8% (Pershing Square in amended 13D filing discloses it cuts stake in VRX to 8.5% from 9.9% prior), DB -3.5% (still checking), SUNE -3.5% (still checking), TWTR -3.2% (still checking), LVS -2.8% (Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported December gross gaming rev -21.2% YoY), MU -2.8% (President Mark Adams will resign for personal health reasons on February 1)

Analyst comments: LEI -13% (downgraded to Sell at Euro Pacific Capital; $1 tgt), JOY -4.8% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS), NFLX -4.3% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird), IRBT -4% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray), CMG -3.1% (downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer), PYPL -3% (downgraded to Sell at Monness Crespi & Hardt), MDRX -2.8% (downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Raymond James), AMZN -2.3% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Monness Crespi & Hardt), ABT -2.2% (downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley), CHK -1.8% (downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James), CL -1.7% (downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts), LMT -1.4% (removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman)

8:34 am Biomarin Pharm names former Allergan Chairman and CEO David Pyott to its Board effective immediately (BMRN) :  

8:33 am Veeco Instruments promoted William Miller, Ph.D. to President, effective immediately (VECO) : Miller served as Executive Vice President, Process Equipment since 2011, where he guided the strategic direction and product development for Veeco's etch and deposition product lines.

8:33 am AmeriServ Finl completes a private placement of $7.65 mln in aggregate principal amount of fixed rate subordinated notes (ASRV) :

Co announces successful completion of a private placement of $7.65 million in aggregate principal amount of fixed rate subordinated notes to certain accredited investors.

• The subordinated notes mature December 31, 2025 and will have a 6.50% fixed interest rate for the entire term.
• This subordinated debt has been structured to qualify as Tier 2 capital under the Federal Reserve's capital guidelines and will be non-callable for 5 years.
• Co expects to use the proceeds from this private placement and other cash on hand to redeem all $21 million of its issued and outstanding SBLF preferred stock prior to the upcoming dividend rate increase from 1% to 9% in February 2016.

8:32 am Aqua America acquires Superior Water Company, adding 3,868 customer connections; additional terms not disclosed (WTR) :  

8:32 am Lyft announces that it is closing $1 bln in funding with a $500 mln investment from General Motors (GM) :  

8:31 am Amyris signs first multi-million-dollar Biofene ingredient supply agreement for global nutraceuticals and vitamins market; Amyris believes revenue under this agreement could be ~$20 mln (AMRS) :

• Co announced that it has signed its first Biofene ingredient supply agreement for the global nutraceuticals and vitamins market
• The agreement represents a multi-mln-dollar arrangement with one of the world's leading nutraceuticals manufacturers. Initial volumes of farnesene were delivered to the customer in Q4 for conversion to the final product
• This agreement and the related processing technology for the farnesene building block will enable a significant cost advantage for this key product used for daily nutritional benefit
• This is a significant achievement consistent with Amyris's mission to help its customers do better while doing better for the planet. Demand for global nutritional products continues to grow at a much faster pace than GDP and supplying these products from sustainable sources at a lower cost than current sources is critical for the growing population of the world
• Co expects 2016 sales revenue under this agreement to exceed annual Amyris renewable fuel revenues to date and, should the companies execute a forward volume agreement for beyond 2016, Amyris believes revenue under this agreement could be ~$20 mln annually following successful commercialization

8:31 am Halozyme Therapeutics enters into agreement for $150 mln non-dilutive royalty-backed debt financing, secured by future royalties of ENHANZE products (HALO) : Co announces that it has entered into a $150 mln credit agreement, secured by future royalties of ENHANZE products, received only from Halozyme's collaborations with Roche (RHHBY) and Baxalta (BXLT). "This transaction allows us to continue to execute our two pillar strategy supporting the initiation of our phase 3 study in pancreatic cancer, ongoing studies in non-small cell lung and gastric cancers, and start of our planned trial in breast cancer in collaboration with Eisai." The debt transaction is expected to close in Jan 2016.

8:31 am Female Health announces $10 million credit facility (FHCO) :  

8:31 am Ambac announces leadership changes, Nader Tavakoli named President and CEO (AMBC) : Co announces leadership changes, including the Board of Directors appointing Nader Tavakoli to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Tavakoli also remains a Director of Ambac and has become non-executive Chairman of Ambac Assurance.

• David Trick remains interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Ambac Assurance and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Ambac and Ambac Assurance. The Ambac Assurance Board continues to actively consider options for the appointment of a permanent President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Trick has been Chief Financial Officer since January 2010 and Treasurer since May 2006. Mr. Trick joined Ambac in 2005.
  
  

8:30 am Capstone Turbine receives 4.6MW Order from Horizon Power Systems for Flare Gas Project (CPST) : Co announce that it received an order for three C800 systems and two C1000 systems for a total of 4.6 MW for a large flare gas energy project in North America from Horizon Power Systems. The new orders will bring Horizon's total fleet to more than 600 microturbines in operation.

8:30 am S&P futures vs fair value: -33.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -87.90. (:WRAPX) :

As pre-market trading enters its final hour, S&P futures are currently trading near their low at 33 points below fair value.

In Treasuries, the benchmark note trades near its high with its yield lower by five basis points at 2.22%.

In specific company news, both Amazon (AMZN 659.80, -16.09) and Netflix (NFLX 110.00, -4.38) are trading lower following downgrades at Monness Crespi & Hardt and Robert W. Baird, respectively. Amazon's downgrade moved the company from Buy to Neutral, and cited perceived strength in the company but a possible better entry point on the stock. Netflix was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform and voiced concerns over U.S. subscriber growth.

In commodities, WTI crude is higher by 1.8% at $37.70 following concerns regarding tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

8:29 am Gapping up (SCANX) : Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: N/A.

M&A news: ANAD +3.5% (announces that a competing bidder has made a further amended offer to acquire the co at $0.68/share, previous offer was $0.58/share)ALU +3.1% (Nokia (NOK) gains 80% control of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) through exchange offer),NOK +2.3%,ACHC +0.9% (to acquire Priory Group for $1.89 bln in cash plus 5.363 mln shares, or ~$2.2 bln)

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher: HMY +10.9%,AUY +3.2%,AG +3.1%,AU +2.4%,AEM +2.2%,ABX +2%,GG +2%,NEM +1.6%,GDX +1.5%,GLD +1.2%,GOLD +1%,SLV +1%

Other news: UNIS +97.9% (enters into an exclusivity agreement with Amgen (AMGN)),BXLT +4.5% (Baxalta and Symphogen establish strategic collaboration to accelerate immuno-oncology),BSI +3.7% (to postpone upcoming payment of principal and interest on the Series C Debentures from January 15, 2016 until February 29, 2016)

Analyst comments: N/A

8:25 am Giga-tronics sells its Power Meter, Amplifiers, Sensors, and legacy Signal Generator product lines to Spanawave for $1.5 mln (GIGA) :

• Co announced the sale of its Power Meter, Amplifiers, Sensors, and legacy Signal Generator product lines to Spanawave
• The product lines will transfer to Spanawave sequentially in phases beginning with certain sensor and amplifier products (effective immediately), with the final product line transfer (legacy Signal Generators) estimated to be completed in July 2016
• Payments totaling $1.5 mln will be made by Spanawave to Giga-tronics over the phased transition period with one-half of the payments ($750,000) expected to be received between June and July 2016. In addition, Spanawave will be purchasing existing inventory for these products in phases
• Giga-tronics will continue to manufacture the related products until the respective product line transfer is complete.

8:25 am Perrigo and Allergan (AGN) announce the launch of combination guaifenesin 600mg and pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg extended-release tablets to retail and wholesale customers and co announces the temporary suspension of sales of its Guaifenesin 600mg extended- release product pending the resolution of challenges related to an excipient used in the production of the product (PRGO) :

• First shipments of this new store branded product started in December and represents a first-to-market accomplishment for Allergan and Perrigo.
• Separately, Perrigo announced the temporary suspension of sales of its Guaifenesin 600mg extended- release product pending the resolution of challenges related to an excipient used in the production of the product.
  • This suspension is expected to have a minimal impact to Perrigo's fourth quarter 2015 adjusted EPS.

8:24 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• 8x8 (EGHT) was awarded a new patent related to its contact center technologies. The '832 patent relates to a user interface associated with a networked contact center that includes a frame to present information in a selectable format. Based on a selection associated with the information, the frame is to present further information in an un-selectable format.
• Fidelity Investments, Visa (V), and U.S. Bank (USB) announced a new long-term card-issuing program that will offer Visa branded credit-card products to U.S. consumers. Under the new card program, U.S. Bank will issue the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card and the Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards Visa SignatureCard4. U.S. Bank has also agreed to acquire Fidelity's existing co-brand credit card portfolio with ~$1.6 bln in associated balances.
• MasterCard (MA) announced that Walmart (WMT) will accept digital payments platform MasterPass in 2016 across its domestic online properties.
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG) announced the appointment of Nicholas Grund as executive vice president and chief commercial officer of the company. He joins AMAG from Genzyme Corporation, a Sanofi Company (SNY), where he spent the past 13 years in business leadership roles, most recently as the leader of the company's rare disease and multiple sclerosis franchises in Asia Pacific and Canada. Ken Wilson, former head of Lumara Health, and Geoffrey Crouse, former head of CBR, will be transitioning out of the company.
• Torchlight Energy Resources (TRCH) announced a partial cash closing from the previously announced agreement with Husky Ventures , the operator of the Company's Hunton assets. Over $2.8 million in operator payables were paid in full upon execution of the agreement. Upon the announced closing Torchlight received proceeds of $900,000. A final closing with additional cash proceeds to be determined is expected to take place post reconciliation of certain lease issues between Husky and other interest owners. The Company expects a resolution in 60 days followed by final accounting and payment.
• Lion Biotechnologies (LBIO) filed an IND application with the U.S. FDA to conduct clinical trials of LN-145 in the treatment of cervical cancer, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
• Gentex (GNTX) and TransCore have signed an exclusive agreement to integrate TransCore's Universal Toll Module technology into Gentex's electronic rearview mirrors

8:20 am PICO Holdings: 5.4% shareholder Central Square Management sends letter to the Board reiterating its serious concerns and views regarding the direction following recent director appointment (PICO) :

Central Square Management LLC (holds 5.4% stake in PICO) has delivered a letter to the Company's Board of Directors, commenting on the Company's recent announcement that it has appointed a new director to the Board and reiterating its serious concerns and views regarding the direction of the Company.

• "We call on you to immediately engage with us to agree on a procedure for seating each of Anthony Bergamo, James Henderson and Daniel Silvers to the Board."

8:17 am Transdigm Group completes tender offer for shares of Breeze-Eastern (BZC) (TDG) :  

8:16 am TeleComm Sys: Comtech Telecommunications (CMTL) extends tender offer for TSYS shares until January 20 (TSYS) :  

8:13 am Fluor announces award of two subcontracts from Westinghouse Electric; discloses that it booked $5 bln in contracts in 4Q15 (FLR) : The co announced that it was awarded two subcontracts by Westinghouse Electric Company to manage the construction workforce at two Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant projects in Georgia and in South Carolina -- the first majority-owned and operated by Georgia Company and the second owned and operated by SCANA (SCG)/Santee Cooper. Fluor booked $5 billion in contracts in the fourth quarter of 2015.

8:09 am RADCOM CEO David Rpstien retires, Yaron Ravkaie names new CEO; guides Q4 rev lower; announces $18 mln order for its MaveriQ solution (RDCM) :

• David Ripstein, RADCOM's CEO since mid-2007, is retiring from his position at RADCOM and that Mr. Yaron Ravkaie, age 47, formerly President of Amdocs' North American AT&T Division, will assume the role of CEO in mid-January.
• "Q4 revenue estimates will be ~$2.7M to $3.0M, which is lower than we expected [single est: $5.2 mln), due to the company-wide effort focused on winning this top-tier opportunity. Despite this near term pain, I believe this massive effort will translate into long term gain. I will continue to advise the company in the coming year to facilitate a smooth transition."
• Co also announced an $18 million win following the selection of its MaveriQ solution for deployment by one of North America's top-tier telecom operators. This is the initial order within the framework of a multi-year sales agreement for a virtual-probe-based monitoring solution for the operator's mobile network. This groundbreaking win positions the Company for the next level of growth. This major order followed nine-months of intensive trials with the operator during which RADCOM demonstrated the superiority of its virtual probe solution over competitors' offerings.

8:06 am Navigant acquires McKinnis Consulting Services for $49 mln in cash plus $3 mln in stock; expects 2015 results to meet targets, sees growth in FY16 (NCI) :

• Co acquired McKinnis Consulting Services, a firm that provides revenue cycle assessment, strategy, and optimization assistance for healthcare providers. Navigant paid ~$49 million in cash and $3 million in Navigant common stock at closing, and may pay up to an additional $10 million to the sellers based on the acquired co's achievement of certain post-closing performance targets.
• The addition of more than 70 McKinnis consultants complements Navigant's existing revenue cycle management (:RCM) capabilities as the healthcare landscape continues to evolve. The acquisition further enhances Navigant's position as a leading provider of end-to-end RCM services, including assessment, electronic health records (:EHR) risk mitigation, and optimization services.

"With anticipated contributions from McKinnis in 2016, the Healthcare segment is expected to deliver significant year over year top line growth, the majority of which we expect to be organic... We anticipate that, on a total company basis, full year 2015 financial results will meet our prior estimates and as we look to 2016, we believe the demand environment for many of our practice areas throughout the firm will remain positive. We anticipate mostly organic RBR and adjusted EBITDA growth in 2016 in excess of historical trends, with higher adjusted EBITDA margins and adjusted earnings per share as compared to full year 2015 [consensus $1.10 vs. $0.99 in FY15]. We look forward to discussing our 2015 results and 2016 financial outlook in more detail during our annual earnings call in February."

8:05 am Micron President Mark Adams will resign for personal health reasons on February 1 (MU) :  

8:04 am Fibrocell Science and Intrexon (XON) announce collaboration to address chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the joint; XON to receive technology access fee of $10 mln (FCSC) :

FCSC and XON announced an Exclusive Channel Collaboration for the development of genetically-modified fibroblasts to treat chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases of the joint, including arthritis and related conditions. 

• Under the terms of the agreement, Intrexon will receive a technology access fee of $10 million in cash and reimbursement for all research and development costs.
• The agreement also provides for regulatory and commercial milestone payments to Intrexon for each collaboration product of up to $30 million and $22.5 million, respectively, as well as a low double-digit royalty based on the net sales from collaboration products.

8:04 am Cepheid enters distribution agreement with Henry Schein (HSIC) for the GeneXpert System and menu of 17 Xpert tests (CPHD) : The co announced an agreement with Henry Schein Medical, the U.S. Medical business of Henry Schein (HSIC), for the distribution of its GeneXpert System and menu of 17 Xperttests spanning healthcare associated infections, critical infectious disease, and sexual health. Under the new, non-exclusive agreement, Henry Schein will offer the GeneXpert System to its non-acute care laboratory customers in the United States, including physician-office laboratories, women's health and large multi-specialty clinics, urgent care facilities, community health centers, correctional facility laboratories, student health centers, STD clinics, long-term care facilities and reference laboratories.

8:04 am Enzymotec updates automatic extension of its joint venture agreement with AAK until December 31, 2019 (ENZY) : Co reports that neither it nor AarhusKarlshamn AB, or AAK, a Sweden-based, global producer of specialty oils that is Enzymotec's joint venture partner in Advanced Lipids AB, has issued a notice of termination of the joint venture agreement to the other party by the December 31, 2015 deadline. Hence, the JV Agreement has been automatically extended until December 31, 2019. The co was also recently notified that the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce has extended the date for rendering its final award related to the arbitration proceedings in connection with the JV Agreement from December 31, 2015 to February 29, 2016.

8:03 am Pfizer and Merck KGaG (MKGAY) enter into a collaboration agreement with Syndax Pharmaceuticals to evaluate the combination of Avelumab and Entinostat in ovarian cancer (PFE) :

Merck KGaA (MKGAY), Pfizer and Syndax Pharmaceuticals announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to evaluate avelumab, an investigational fully human anti-PD-L1 IgG1 monoclonal antibody, in combination with Syndax's entinostat, an investigational oral small molecule that targets immune regulatory cells (myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T-cells), in patients with heavily pre-treated, recurrent ovarian cancer.

• This is an exclusive agreement between the alliance and Syndax to study the combination of these two investigational agents in ovarian cancer. Syndax will be responsible for conducting the Phase Ib/II clinical trial in ovarian cancer. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

8:03 am InVivo Therapeutics receivees approval of a protocol amendment from the U.S. FDA that will convert its ongoing pilot study into a pivotal probable benefit study (NVIV) :

Co announces that it has received approval of a protocol amendment from the U.S. FDA that will convert its ongoing pilot study into a pivotal probable benefit study.

• With this transition, the study will be known formally as "The INSPIRE Study: InVivo Study of Probable Benefit of the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold for Safety and Neurologic Recovery in Subjects with Complete Thoracic AIS A Spinal Cord Injury."
• The INSPIRE Study is designed to enroll 20 implanted patients, inclusive of the five patients already enrolled in the study.
• The INSPIRE study is currently approved to enroll up to 12 patients, but InVivo expects that the FDA will approve the full 20 patients following the review of the complete 6-month data package for the first five patients.
• Co plans to submit these data in 2Q16.
• An objective performance criterion for the study to support probable benefit using historical benchmarks is under discussion with the FDA.

8:03 am CRH Medical acquires Johns Creek Anesthesia, which provides anesthesia services to an ambulatory surgical center in the Johns Creek, Georgia area (CRHM) : has completed a new, accretive transaction whereby CRH has acquired 100% ownership of Johns Creek Anesthesia, LLC. JCA provides anesthesia services to an ambulatory surgical center in the Johns Creek, Georgia area; the transaction builds on CRH's significant presence in Georgia. JVA is expected to generate total annual revenue of US$1.3 million. The purchase price for the transaction was funded with cash on hand.

8:02 am Nielsen names James A. Attwood, Jr. as non-executive chairman of the board effective January 1 (NLSN) : Attwood succeeds David L. Calhoun who served as executive chairman of the board since 2014.

8:02 am Sequans Communications' Colibri LTE chipset platform has passed AT&T's (T) ADAPT chipset verification program and is approved to operate on AT&T's 4G LTE network (SQNS) : The ADAPT verification process assures device vendors that the Colibri LTE chipset platform meets AT&T's stringent performance, interoperability and feature requirements, and that it is certified for use in devices designed to operate on the AT&T 4G LTE network. Colibri was ADAPT verified on AT&T's LTE bands 2, 4, 5 and 12.

8:02 am Ardelyx names Paul Korner, MD, MBA as Chief Medical Officer (ARDX) : Co announced that Paul Korner, MD, MBA, joined the company in a newly created position as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Over the past seven years, he served as President, Ferring International Pharmascience Center U.S. Inc.

8:01 am U.S. Antimony reports that it has sold 5,377 tons of zeolite in Q4 of 2015 compared to 3,063 tons in Q4 of 2014 (UAMY) :

During Q4 of 2015, the Company sold 617,451 pounds of antimony compared to 425,351 pounds during Q4 of 2014, an increase of 45%.

• On December 23, 2015, Hillgrove Mines Pty Ltd announced the closure of their mine at Armidale, New South Wales, Australia due to the 2015 declining price of antimony from $8,000 to $5,000 per metric ton (from $3.62 to $2.27 per pound). Hillgrove has placed the mine on care and maintenance pending improved antimony prices. At the present time, USAC has a four to five month inventory of Hillgrove concentrates at Madero, Mexico. USAC will replace the Hillgrove concentrates with production from Wadley, Soyatal, and Guadalupe.

8:01 am TICC Capital announces has repaid in full its $150 million of outstanding borrowings under the Facility and has unilaterally terminated the facility (TICC) : Co announces that TICC Funding LLC, a special purpose vehicle and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, which previously entered into a revolving credit facility, has repaid in full its $150 mln of outstanding borrowings under the facility and has unilaterally terminated the facility as of December 31, 2015.

8:01 am Immune Pharma announces new data with topical cyclosporine nano-capsules in dermatology; enters into an exclusive worldwide licensing and development agreement with BioNanoSim (IMNP) : Co announces that following the review of new efficacy data, it has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing and development agreement with BioNanoSim, an Israeli nanotechnology drug delivery company, for a novel topical nano-capsule formulation of cyclosporine. Immune will fund further development of the product candidate and BioNanoSim will be eligible to potentially receive certain development and regulatory milestones as well as royalties on sales.

7:58 am S&P futures vs fair value: -36.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -93.70. (:WRAPX) :

Global equities are starting the New Year on a negative note following a 6.9% decline in the Shanghai Composite. The index was closed early following circuit breaker limits provisions. Elsewhere, escalating tensions in the Middle East aren't helping investor sentiment, as diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran were cut off last night following protesters lighting the Saudi Arabian embassy in Tehran on fire over the weekend. Volatility arose after Saudi Arabia executed a Shiite cleric. 

U.S. equity futures trade near their pre-market lows with the S&P 500 futures currently 36 points below fair value.

In Treasuries, the benchmark note currently sits near its pre-market high with its yield lower by five basis points at 2.22%.

On the economic front, data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of November Construction spending report (Briefing.com consensus 0.8%) and the December ISM Index (Briefing.com consensus 49.0).

In U.S. corporate news of note:

• Tesla Motors (TSLA 230.59, -9.42): -3.9% after the company reported Q4 deliveries of 17,400 vehicles,  matching the lower end of the company's guidance.
• Fiat Chrysler (FCAU 9.13, -4.86): -34.8% on news that the separation of the Ferrari division of the business was competed on January 3rd.
• Netflix (NFLX 109.18, -5.20) -4.6% after the company was downgraded at Robert W. Baird to Neutral from Outperform 

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Asian markets ended sharply lower with China's Shanghai Composite -6.9%, Japan's Nikkei -3.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng -2.9%.
  • In economic data point:
    • China's December Caixin Manufacturing PMI 48.2 (expected 49.0; previous 48.6), December Manufacturing PMI 49.7 (consensus 49.7; previous 49.6), and December Non-Manufacturing PMI 54.4 (prior 53.6)
    • South Korea's December trade surplus narrowed to KRW7.20 billion from KRW10.30 billion (expected surplus of KRW8.82 billion) as imports fell 19.2% year-over-year (consensus -18.6%) and exports declined 13.8% year-over-year (last -10.9%). Separately, December Nikkei Manufacturing PMI 50.7 (prior 49.1)
    • Japan's Manufacturing PMI 52.6 (expected 52.5; last 52.5) India's December Nikkei Markit Manufacturing PMI 49.1 (previous 50.3)
    • Hong Kong's November Retail Sales -7.8% year-over-year (consensus -6.4%; last -3.0%)
    • Singapore's Q4 GDP +2.0% year-over-year (consensus 1.3%; previous 1.8%)
  • In news:
    • Trading in China was halted after the CSI 300 index briefly showed a 7.0% loss.

• European indices trade broadly lower with Germany's DAX -4.1%, France's CAC -3.4%, and the U.K.'s FTSE -2.4%.
  • In economic data:
    • Eurozone December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (expected 53.1; previous 53.1)
    • Germany's December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (consensus 53.0; last 53.0)
    • UK's December Manufacturing PMI 51.9 (expected 52.7; last 52.5) and Net Lending to Individuals GBP5.30 billion (expected GBP4.90 billion; previous GBP4.80 billion)
    • France's December Manufacturing PMI 51.4 (expected 51.6; last 51.6)
    • Italy's December Manufacturing PMI 55.6 (consensus 55.0; last 54.9)
    • Spain's December Manufacturing PMI 53.0 (expected 53.3; previous 53.1)
    • Swiss December SVME PMI 52.1 (expected 50.2; last 49.7)
  • In news:
    • The euro has rallied 0.4% against the dollar to 1.0907 with the strength likely resulting from carry trade unwinds.

7:32 am Forest City Enterprises completes planned conversion to REIT status for the taxable year ending December 31, 2016 (FCE.A) : Shareholders of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. automatically became shareholders of Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., which began operating as a REIT on January 1, 2016. Shares of the company's common stock will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols "FCEA" and "FCEB."

7:31 am Azure Midstream Partners announced completion of two new deals with producers totaling 32,000 MCFD (AZUR) :

Co announced it has completed two new deals with producers totaling 32,000 MCFD.

1. The first is a four-year, fee-based deal with a well-established independent producer in East Texas who is working to grow their acreage position to build on the 15,200 acres they already operate in Panola County, TX. Minimal capital cost was required to facilitate delivery into the Azure gathering system.
2. The second is a five-year fee-based deal in the Waskom, TX area with a producer that has a well producing 9.2 MCFD. 

7:27 am European Markets Update: FTSE -2.6%, CAC -3.8%, DAX -4.4% (:SUMRX) :

Major European markets trade broadly lower with the cautious sentiment carrying over from Asia where China's Shanghai Composite welcomed 2016 with a 6.9% plunge on the heels of disappointing manufacturing data. Meanwhile, the data in Europe has been mostly better than expected, but that has not stopped investors from selling equities in volume. The euro has rallied 0.6% against the dollar to 1.0922 with the strength likely resulting from carry trade unwinds.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (expected 53.1; previous 53.1)
  • Germany's December Manufacturing PMI 53.2 (consensus 53.0; last 53.0)
  • UK's December Manufacturing PMI 51.9 (expected 52.7; last 52.5) and Net Lending to Individuals GBP5.30 billion (expected GBP4.90 billion; previous GBP4.80 billion)
  • France's December Manufacturing PMI 51.4 (expected 51.6; last 51.6)
  • Italy's December Manufacturing PMI 55.6 (consensus 55.0; last 54.9)
  • Spain's December Manufacturing PMI 53.0 (expected 53.3; previous 53.1)
  • Swiss December SVME PMI 52.1 (expected 50.2; last 49.7)

---Equity Markets---

• UK's FTSE has slid 2.6% with all but three components trading in the red. Miners and financials have paced the retreat with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta, Standard Chartered, and Old Mutual down between 4.1% and 7.0%. On the upside, Randgold Resources has bucked the trend, trading higher by 2.0%.
• France's CAC is lower by 3.8%, which puts the index near its December low. ArcelorMittal is the weakest performer, down 7.1%, while consumer names like L'Oreal, Louis Vuitton, Kering, and Carrefour show losses between 4.1% and 6.0%. On the upside, Bouygues has spiked 1.9% amid reports Orange may acquire the company's telecom unit.
• Germany's DAX has plunged 4.4% with 29 of its 30 components showing losses of at least 3.0%. Deutsche Bank has sunk 5.5% while heavyweights BASF, Siemens, BMW, and Daimler are down between 4.5% and 5.0%.

7:26 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• VolitionRx (VNRX) announced the grant of U.S. Patent Number 9222937 entitled "Method for Detecting Nucleosomes.". The new U.S. patent, issued today and expiring in August 2032, relates to VolitionRx's Nucleosomics platform for the detection of fragments of chromosomes, called nucleosomes, circulating in the blood. This latest patent for the detection of nucleosomes will support the first two patents granted to VolitionRx in the U.S.
• Solar Power (SOPW) and SPI Energy announced their merger has been completed. SPI Energy's ADSs will be quoted on the OTC Markets under the symbol "SRGYY" effective January 4, 2016. SPI Energy is in the process of applying for listing of the ADSs on the Nasdaq Capital Market and expects to complete that process in early 2016.
• Matinas BioPharma (MTNB) filed an IND application with the U.S. FDA for its lead antibacterial development candidate, MAT2501. Pending FDA clearance of the IND, the co plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical trial with MAT2501 in 2016.
• NICE Systems (NICE) announced the compatibility of its multi-channel recording platform with Microsoft's (MSFT) latest unified communications platform Skype for Business. This collaboration with Microsoft will enable NICE to significantly expand its Skype for Business install base while continuing to support its customers' recording needs.
• Zipnosis has raised a $17 mln Series A financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics (SFE) w/ participation from Ascension Ventures, a subsidiary of Ascension
• Duke LifePoint, a JV b/t Duke University Health System and LifePoint Health (LPNT) acquired Central Carolina Hospital and Frye Regional Medical Center from Tenet Healthcare (THC).
• CEVA (CEVA) announced that its RivieraWaves Surf IP platform has achieved Wi-Fi CERTIFIED ac status from the Wi-Fi Alliance

7:23 am Floor Talk: Global equities sharply lower following China rout; escalating Middle East tensions boost oil (:TALKX) : Global equity markets are getting a very negative start to the New Year following a 6.9% decline in China before markets were halted there. Escalating tensions in the Middle East aren't helping the tone either.

U.S. equity futures are pointing to a big gap down at the open of trading with S&P futures currently lower by 1.7% (-35 points at 2000). Dow futures are off more than 300 points.

China was the primary catalyst for the global selloff, with Chinese stocks plunging after the latest round of PMI data came in weaker than expected. The December Caixin PMI reading was reported at 48.2 vs expectations for 48.9 while the State-issued release came in just slightly under expectations at 49.7 (vs 49.8e). Local analysts placed blame on the increasing risks of global weakness, in addition to unknown impacts with US rate hikes on emerging markets. In addition, China's Yuan was devalued to a 4.5 year low. At the end of the day China's Shanghai Composite finished lower by 6.9% before markets were closed early due to circuit breaker limits.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed down 3.1%, as a strengthening Yen offset any positive read-through from Japan's better than expected PMI readings. Hong Kong's Hang seng fell 2.7%.

European markets are sharply lower as well with Germany's DAX -4.2%, while France's CAC is -2.7% and the UK's FTSE is -2.4%.

In addition to the global market volatility caused by China, geopolitical tensions are escalating in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia carried out 47 executions over the weekend. Iran condemned the execution of a Shiite cleric and protesters in Tehran set the Saudi Arabian embassy on fire. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain subsequently cut diplomatic ties with Iran.

Oil futures are higher by 0.8% (WTI +0.28 at $37.32/barrel) as a result of the Middle East tensions. On the other hand, natural gas futures are down 2.0%. Gold is catching a safe-haven bid, trading higher by 1.1% (+11 at $1071/oz).

7:17 am Enterprise Products announces increases annual distribution by $0.08/share to $1.61/share and that Enterprise Products Company to purchase $200 mln of common units during 1Q16 (EPD) :

Co announces that its management plans to recommend to the board of its general partner distributions totaling $1.61/share, which, if approved by the board, would represent a 5.2% increase compared to $1.53/share of 2015. Co also announces that affiliates of Enterprise Products Company and its general partner have indicated their intention to purchase a total of $200 million of Enterprise common units during the first quarter of 2016 through the partnership's distribution reinvestment plan and/or the partnership's at-the-market equity issuance program.

• Co will use the proceeds from these purchases to fund a portion of its growth capital investments and for general company purposes.
• Currently, EPCO owns ~34% of co's common units.

7:07 am Park Sterling completes acquisition of First Capital Bancorp (FCVA) (PSTB) :  

7:07 am Oasmia Pharmaceutical submits application for market approval of its next generation anti-cancer drug Doxophos(r) in Russia; expects market approval of Doxophos by the end of 2016 (OASM) :  

7:03 am ReWalk secured $20 mln line of credit through Kreos Capital V (Expert Fund) Limited (RWLK) : Under the terms of the agreement, interest-only payments will be due for the first 12 months at a rate of 10.75% per annum. Thereafter, monthly principal and interest payments will be due through the December 2018 maturity date, which can be extended by an additional 12 months subject to certain conditions. Additionally, Kreos was issued a warrant in the aggregate amount of $1.15 million to purchase ordinary shares of the Company at an exercise price of $9.64 per share.

7:02 am Evolving Systems promotes President Thomas Thekkethala to CEO and Dan Moorhead to CFO (EVOL) :

• Thekkethala succeeds Thad Dupper, who will remain with the co as non-executive Chairman of the Board.
• Thekkethala assumes the CEO position after being named President and a Director of Evolving Systems when RateIntegration, Inc., d/b/a/ Sixth Sense Media, was acquired by Evolving Systems on September 30.
• Moorhead has been a member of the Co's finance team for ~11 years.

7:01 am Horizon Pharma receives Notice of Allowance from the USPTO over a patent application that covers Horizon's U.S. approved medicine RAVICTI Oral Liquid (HZNP) : After issuance, Horizon plans to list the U.S. patent in the FDA's Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations, or Orange Book.

7:01 am Acadia Healthcare to acquire Priory Group for $1.89 bln in cash plus 5.363 mln shares, or ~$2.2 bln; sees deal accretive to earnings (ACHC) :

Co has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Priory Group. Priory is a leading provider of behavioral healthcare services in the United Kingdom, operating more than 300 facilities with ~7,200 beds. For 2015, Priory is expected to produce revenue of ~$865 million and adjusted EBITDA of ~$196 million.

• In accordance with the terms of the purchase agreement, (i) an aggregate of 5.363 million shares of Acadia common stock, subject to adjustment as provided in the agreement, will be issued to the sellers, and (ii) Acadia will pay cash consideration of ~1.275 billion (or ~$1.887 billion), including ~925 million (or ~$1.369 billion) used to repay outstanding debt of Priory.
• It is expected that Acadia will seek a combination of equity and long-term debt financing to finance the transaction. Acadia has received a commitment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Jefferies Finance LLC regarding the debt financing for a portion of the cash payable in the transaction. Acadia expects to complete the transaction by February 16, 2016.
• Acadia expects this transaction will produce annualized earnings accretion in a range of ~$0.38 to $0.42 per diluted share. These accretion expectations do not include the impact of transaction-related expenses.

7:01 am Enterprise Products increases quarterly cash distribution by $0.005/share to $0.39/share (EPD) :  

7:01 am Kratos Defense and Security announces $9.1 mln contract award for Oriole Rocket Systems from U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center (KTOS) :  

7:00 am Sunesis Pharma announces EMA validates marketing authorization application for Vosaroxin in AML (SNSS) : Co announced that the European Medicines Agency (:EMA) has validated the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for vosaroxin as a treatment for relapsed refractory acute myeloid leukemia (:AML) in patients aged 60 years and older.

6:55 am Asian Markets Close: Nikkei -3.1%, Hang Seng -2.9%, Shanghai -6.9% (:SUMRX) :

Markets across Asia greeted 2016 with a broad-based selloff that began in Japan and continued throughout the night after the release of disappointing PMI data from China. Accordingly, China's Shanghai Composite saw the biggest decline in the region, falling 6.9%. The aggressive selling led to a trading halt after the CSI 300 index briefly showed a 7.0% loss. Adding to the pressure was a disappointing Manufacturing PMI report from India (49.3; previous 50.3), which indicated contraction in manufacturing activities in the emerging economy.

• Investors received several data points:
  • China's December Caixin Manufacturing PMI 48.2 (expected 49.0; previous 48.6), December Manufacturing PMI 49.7 (consensus 49.7; previous 49.6), and December Non-Manufacturing PMI 54.4 (prior 53.6)
  • South Korea's December trade surplus narrowed to KRW7.20 billion from KRW10.30 billion (expected surplus of KRW8.82 billion) as imports fell 19.2% year-over-year (consensus -18.6%) and exports declined 13.8% year-over-year (last -10.9%). Separately, December Nikkei Manufacturing PMI 50.7 (prior 49.1)
  • Japan's Manufacturing PMI 52.6 (expected 52.5; last 52.5) India's December Nikkei Markit Manufacturing PMI 49.1 (previous 50.3)
  • Hong Kong's November Retail Sales -7.8% year-over-year (consensus -6.4%; last -3.0%)
  • Singapore's Q4 GDP +2.0% year-over-year (consensus 1.3%; previous 1.8%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei lost 3.1%, dropping to levels from late October amid selling in all but seven names. Sumitomo Chemical, J. Front Retailing, SUMCO, Yamaha, Honda Motor, Okuma, and Fast Retailing lost between 4.5% and 5.1%. On the upside, Toshiba gained 2.0%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.9%, returning into the neighborhood of its December low. Every index component ended the day in negative territory with China Resources Power, China Overseas, China Life Insurance, Li & Fung, and Belle International surrendering between 5.0% and 5.8%. Energy names fared a bit better than the broader market with CNOOC and Petrochina both falling near 1.0%.
• China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 6.9% amid heavy selling. Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China both lost near 3.5% while CITIC Securities and China Shipbuilding Industry fell 9.8% and 7.3%, respectively.
• India's Sensex lost 2.1%, sliding to mid-December levels amid broad selling. Tata Motors, Hindalco Industries, and ICICI Bank paced the dive with losses between 2.8% and 6.1%. On the upside, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever outperformed with respective gains of 0.3% and 0.1%.

---FX---

• USDJPY -1.1% to 118.85
• USDCNY +0.7% to 6.5356
• USDINR +0.5% to 66.57

6:50 am Chatham Lodging announces special dividend of $0.08 per share on sale of joint venture (CLDT) : Co announced a joint venture comprised of affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management LP and Chatham sold its interests in the Residence Inn by Marriott Torrance, Calif. Chatham realized a gain on the sale of ~$3.6 million, subject to certain minor post-closing settlements. Following the transaction's consummation, Chatham's board of trustees declared a special, one-time common dividend of $0.08 per share that will be treated as received by shareholders for tax purposes in 2016, but will be applied by Chatham against its 2015 taxable income. Chatham owned 5% interest in the joint venture.

6:47 am Rexford Industrial Realty announced acquisition of of 17311 Nichols Lane, located in Huntington Beach, California, for $17.1 million, or approximately $149 per square foot (REXR) :  

6:46 am Nautilus acquires Octane Fitness for ~$115 mln, expects immediate accretion to earnings (NLS) :

The co announced that on December 31, 2015 it entered into and closed on a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Octane Fitness, a fitness products company through the purchase of 100% of the capital stock of OF Holdings, Inc., Octane's parent corporation, from North Castle Partners, a private equity firm, and other stockholders. The purchase price of approximately $115 million, subject to working capital and other adjustments, was funded with a combination of cash on hand and proceeds of a new $80 million term loan.

• The acquisition of Octane is expected to be accretive to earnings beginning in the first quarter of 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2015, Nautilus expects $0.11 to $0.12 per share of one-time charges related to transaction costs, as well as other expenses related to previously disclosed patent licensing and royalty matters. Nautilus, Inc. expects to release preliminary, unaudited fourth quarter and full year 2015 results on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.

6:46 am Baxalta and Symphogen establish strategic collaboration to accelerate immuno-oncology; Symphogen to receive $175 mln upfront, in addition to potential future milestone payments and royalties (BXLT) : Under the terms of the agreement, Baxalta and Symphogen will advance novel therapeutics against six checkpoint targets, with the first program to enter clinical studies in 2017. On a product-by-product basis, following successful completion of Phase 1 clinical trials, Baxalta will have exclusive option rights to complete late-stage development and worldwide commercialization. Symphogen will receive an upfront payment of $175 mln (160 mln) from Baxalta in exchange for the exclusive option rights for six checkpoint therapies. Symphogen will be responsible for performing R&D through Phase 1 clinical trials at its own expense. The agreement holds a total potential value up to 1.4 bln ($1.6 bln) in option fees and milestones over the long-term, in addition to royalties on worldwide sales. Additional terms, including therapeutic targets, were not disclosed.

6:45 am MEDNAX acquires Professional Anesthesia Associates; expected to be immediately accretive to earnings (MD) :

Co announces acquisition of Professional Anesthesia Associates, a private physician group practice based in Jackson, Tenn, effective December 31.

• This was a cash transaction, and it is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings.
• No additional terms of the transaction were disclosed.

6:45 am Tallgrass Energy Partners acquires an additional 31.3% interest in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline (now 98%) for $475 mln in cash and 6.518 mln TEP units, or ~$744 mln (TEP) :

Co is acquiring an additional 31.3% interest in Tallgrass Pony Express Pipeline for cash consideration of $475 million and 6.518 million TEP common units issued to Tallgrass Development. Based on TEP's December 31st closing price of $41.21, the total consideration of ~$743.6 million represents a multiple of ~9.0x incremental cash flow to TEP as a result of the acquisition. The acquisition increases TEP's membership interest in Pony Express to 98%.

• Tallgrass Development is granting TEP an 18 month call option to repurchase the newly issued 6.518 million common units at a price of $42.50. Thus, the acquisition could become more accretive to TEP if it issues equity for net cash proceeds in excess of $42.50 per common unit and exercises its option. Pro forma for this transaction, TEP's debt to cash flow ratio is approximately 3.7x and its available liquidity under its revolving credit facility is approximately $272 million. TEP expects that Tallgrass Development will maintain its minority ownership interest in Pony Express for the foreseeable future.

6:43 am Tallgrass Energy GP increases quarterly cash distribution $0.029/share to $0.173/share (TEGP) :  

6:41 am Tallgrass Energy Partners increases quarterly cash distribution $0.04/share to $0.64/share (TEP) :  

6:34 am Wins Finance announces the sale of $8.5 mln of convertible notes to Chairman and Co-CEO Jianming Hao (WINS) : Wins Finance intends to use the proceeds to accelerate the growth and expansion of the Company's business. The convertible notes bear interest at 4% per annum and mature one year from the date of issuance. The conversion price is set at $12, which was the market price on the date of issuance.

6:31 am ChromaDex announced that independent scientific panel determined that NIAGEN achieved GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe) (CDXC) :  

6:30 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Saint Lawrence Communications LLC and Saint LawrenceCommunications GmbH, subsidiaries of Acacia Research Corporation (ACTG),entered into a patent license agreement with LG Electronics (LGEAF). Thisagreement resolves patent litigation, Civil Action Nos. 21 O 18339/14, 21 O814/15, 21 O 815/15, 21 O 816/15, 21 O 817/15, and 21 O 818/15, pending in theGerman Regional Court Munich I, and Civil Action No. 2:14-cv-1055 pending inthe United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
• GigaMedia (GIGM) announced that on December 31, 2015, NASDAQnotified the Company that it has regained compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2),which requires a minimum bid price of $1.00 for continued listing on the NASDAQCapital Market. As a result of satisfying the minimum bid price requirement,this matter is now closed.
• Daqo New Energy (DQ) announced that its subsidiary, XinjiangDaqo New Energy Stock Co., Ltd., has filed an application with the NationalEquities Exchange and Quotations, an emerging over-the-counter market in China.Xinjiang Daqo operates the polysilicon production facilities of the Companylocated in Shihezi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
• Fresenius (FSNUY) Helios has started expanding the HELIOSAmper Hospital in Dachau, near Munich. Within two years a new, multi-storyextension will be completed. The existing building that houses the patientwards will then be completely renovated. When all the work is finished in fouryears, the hospital will have about 100 additional beds. The total investmentis about 55 million.
• Cairn (CRNCY) announced the successful testing of the SNE-2appraisal well offshore Senegal with positive results. Operations have beensafely and successfully completed following drilling, coring, logging anddrill-stem testing. The well is now being plugged and abandoned. Following thisfirst successful appraisal well, resource estimates for the SNE field will befully revised and announced after the results of the further appraisalactivity.

6:13 am Canadian Oil Sands issues letter to shareholders declaring its independence contingent upon the expiration of Suncor Energy's (SU) hostile bid on January 8 (COSWF) :

Highlights of the shareholder letter include:

• Acting together in the short term means we can remain independent for the long term. Suncor's substantially undervalued bid is set to lapse, and when it does they say they will walk away. For all of us, as shareholders, this scenario reveals a far more compelling and valuable alternative: Independence. Canadian Oil Sands wasn't looking to sell itself, and Suncor's opportunistic bid does not make us conclude that we should now....The Board continues to take steps to lower costs including the reduction in the number and pay of Directors and the level of G&A expense at COS. Our target for 2016 is a 20 percent reduction to better align with Syncrude cost reductions and the reality of today's oil prices."

6:06 am Achillion Pharma names Joel Barrish, Ph.D. as Chief Scientific Officer effective January 4 (ACHN) : Most recently, Joel served as the Vice President and Head of Discovery Chemistry for all therapeutic areas, including Immunology, at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)

6:05 am European Markets : FTSE...6109.25...-133.10...-2.10%.  DAX...10358.60...-384.40...-3.60%.

6:05 am Asian Markets : Nikkei...18450.98...-582.70...-3.10%.  Hang Seng...21327.12...-587.30...-2.70%.

6:05 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• JinkoSolar Holding (JKS) announced that Arturo Herrero, ChiefStrategy Officer, has resigned for personal reasons effective January 1, 2016.
• On December 31, 2015, in accordance with the terms of theAgreement, ParkerVision (PRKR) notified 3LP Advisors, LLC of its intent toterminate the Licensing Services Agreement dated February 4, 2014 between theparties, effective immediately.
• E.ON (EONGY) announced it successfully separated itsoperations from Uniper's effective January 1, 2016. From the new E.ON campus inEssen, the company will now focus on renewables, energy networks, and customersolutions. Uniper will operate independently from its headquarters inDsseldorf. Uniper's businesses-conventional power generation (hydro, naturalgas, coal) and global energy trading-remain essential for ensuring the securityof the energy supply. The spinoff of Uniper is expected to take place later in2016 following the approval of E.ON shareholders.
• MagnaChip Semiconductor (MX) announced that it now offers ahigh performance and cost competitive 0.13 micron 1.5/2.5V RF Silicon onInsulator process.
• Alon Blue Square Israel (BSI) announced that it was notifiedby the trustee for the Series C Debentures that at a meeting of the Series CBondholders held on December 31, 2015, the Series C Bondholders resolved toauthorize the Series C trustee, following consultation with the representativesof the Series C Bondholders, to postpone, from time to time, the payment datefor the upcoming payment of principal and interest on the Series C Debenturesfrom January 15, 2016 until February 29, 2016.
• Sinovac Biotech (SVA) announced that the China Food and DrugAdministration issued the new drug certificate and production license for itsEnterovirus 71 vaccine. Sinovac's EV71 vaccine production facility is locatedin Beijing with an expected production capacity of 20 million doses annually.This vaccine will target children aged 6-35 months, with each child requiring atotal of two doses one month apart from another.
• Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI) announced that its EnerPlexbrand has launched a retail partnership with eBags, the world's most trustedonline destination for bags and all things travel.
• KineMed announced that it has entered into a strategiccollaboration with Pfizer (PFE) to discover and develop novel proprietarybiomarkers in various fields of unmet medical need. Under the terms of theagreement, Pfizer has licensed access to the KineMed platform and rights topursue discovery, development and potential commercialization of kineticbiomarkers in various fields. Both companies will work together on discoveryresearch of novel biomarkers, and Pfizer will be responsible for the developmentand potential commercialization of any novel biomarkers or companiondiagnostics for the Pfizer-selected targets.
  

6:03 am Heartland Payment Systems sells SmartLink Division to EchoSat; terms not disclosed (HPY) :  

6:02 am Nxt-ID enters definitive agreement with WorldVentures; agreement calls for WorldVentures to make a strategic investment of $2 mln in Nxt-ID (NXTD) :

WorldVentures announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Nxt-ID. The agreement calls for WorldVentures to make a strategic investment of $2 million in Nxt-ID to develop a proprietary new wireless smart card for its members-numbering in the several hundreds of thousands worldwide-based on Nxt-ID's Wocket. The agreement also provides that upon completion of development, the card will be sold exclusively to WorldVentures to be distributed and made available to its Members.

• In connection with the Development Agreement, on December 31, 2015 the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with WVH providing for the issuance and sale by the Company of 10,050,000 shares of the Company's common stock, and a common stock purchase warrant to purchase 2,512,500 shares of the Company's common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $2,000,000. The Warrant is initially exercisable on the five month anniversary of the issuance date at an exercise price equal to $0.75 per share and has a term of exercise equal to two years and seven months from the date on which first exercisable.

5:51 am Emergent Capital announces that the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire sent a letter confirming that co has fully complied with the NPA, and that all obligations imposed on co by the NPA have terminated (EMG) : In a letter sent to Emergent Capital dated December 31, 2015, the United States Attorney's Office confirmed that co has fully complied with the NPA, and that all obligations imposed on Emergent Capital by the NPA have terminated. The USAO filed civil forfeiture claims with respect to compensation received by certain former employees. Without admitting any of the USAO's allegations, the former employees resolved the civil forfeiture actions for amounts totaling $6.5 million, and were indemnified by Emergent Capital. As the USAO has concluded its investigation, co will have no further third party indemnification obligations in this matter.

5:45 am Fiat Chrysler announces that the separation of the Ferrari (RACE) business from the FCA group was completed on January 3 (FCAU) :  

5:42 am Swift Energy (SFYW) files Chapter 11 bankruptcy (:SFY) : The co announced that it has reached an agreement with holders of a majority of its senior notes to convert all senior notes to equity pursuant to the terms of a restructuring support agreement signed. Under the agreement, existing equity holders are to retain 4% of the Company's equity on a fully diluted basis, subject only to dilution as a result of a proposed new management incentive program. In addition to the retained equity, existing equity holders are also to receive warrants for up to 30% of the post-petition equity exercisable upon the Company reaching certain benchmarks pursuant to the terms of proposed new warrants. The agreement is to be effectuated through a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization and is subject to bankruptcy court approval.

• To commence the process for court approval of the agreement, the Company and eight of its subsidiaries today filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
• The Company has also arranged up to $75 million of debtor-in-possession (:DIP) financing from a group of senior noteholders to provide additional liquidity to fund the business through the Chapter 11 process.
• Additionally, the co and TEXEGY LLC announced that U.S. subsidiaries of the Company and Texegy have entered into a purchase and sale agreement providing for the Company to sell to Texegy a 75% share of the Company's holdings in the South Bearhead Creek Field and Burr Ferry Field areas located in Central Louisiana. Closing is anticipated to occur on or before March 15, 2016, subject to bankruptcy court approval in the chapter 11 reorganization proceeding filed by the Company today as previously announced, and further subject to customary closing conditions.

5:16 am SouFun Holdings appoints Kent Huang as CFO (SFUN) :

Co announces that it has appointed Kent Huang as the company's Chief Financial Officer.

• Lan Guan, Fang's previous CFO, has been re-positioned as the Company's Vice President, concentrating on the tax planning and government relations management.
• Huang joined Fang in October 2015 as Deputy CFO, and was in charge of financial reporting, investor relations and internal auditing functions.

5:13 am Qunar appoints Zhenyu Chen as CEO; announces additional mgmt changes (QUNR) :

Co announced changes to its management, which are effective as of January 4, 2016.

• Zhenyu Chen, Qunar's Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Business Group, has been appointed as Qunar's CEO.
• Qiang Zhang, Qunar's Executive Vice President and Head of Destination Services Business Group, will assume the role of its COO.
• Xiaolu Zhu, Qunar's Senior Director of Strategy and Investor Relations, has been appointed as Qunar's CFO.
• Qunar's co-founder, Chenchao "CC" Zhuang will no longer serve as Qunar's director and chief executive officer, and Yilu Zhao will no longer serve as its chief financial officer.
  • Zhuang and Zhao will serve as Qunar's senior advisors until the end of the first quarter of 2016 and play significant roles in supporting the cooperation between Ctrip.com (CTRP) International and Qunar.
    

3:23 am Tata Motors reports Dec sales of 39,973 units (TTM) :

Co announced total sale of Tata Motors passenger and commercial vehicles (including exports) were at 39,973 vehicles, lower by 4%, over 41,734 vehicles, sold in December 2014. The domestic sale of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for December 2015 were at 35,416 nos. lower by 6% over 37,776 vehicles sold in December 2014.

• Cumulative sales (including exports) for the fiscal at 364,946 nos., higher by 1% over 362,986 vehicles, sold last year

3:12 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• TomTom (TMOAY) announced that it has acquired Finder S.A., the leading fleet management service provider in Poland, effective as of the end of December 2015. The acquisition strengthens the position of TomTom Telematics as the leading and fastest-growing fleet management and telematics service provider in Europe.
• Brookfield Property Partners (BPY) announced that one of its subsidiaries has completed the acquisition of Potsdamer Platz in Berlin with its joint venture partner, an Asian sovereign wealth fund. The parties are not disclosing the purchase price.
• Nutrisystem (NTRI) announced that in addition to its all-new, clinically tested Turbo10 program for diet season 2016, it is also expanding its health segment offerings to include a DASH diet compliant plan.

3:11 am Infoblox appoints Janesh Moorjani as CFO (BLOX) :

Co announced that Janesh Moorjani has joined Infoblox as chief financial officer, effective immediately.

• Moorjani joins Infoblox from VMware (VMW), where he was senior vice president of finance, responsible for corporate, field, and global business unit finance functions across all of the company's product and service lines.

3:08 am Nokia gains 80% control of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) through exchange offer (NOK) :

The French stock market authority, Autorit des Marchs Financiers, published the interim results of the initial offer period of Nokia's (NOK) public exchange offer for Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) securities in France and in the United States, and has declared the Offer successful.

• The interim results indicate that 2,052,812,101 outstanding Alcatel-Lucent ordinary shares, 264,183,778 ADSs, 206 784 349 OCEANE 2018 convertible bonds, 37 880 652 OCEANE 2019 convertible bonds, and 16 138 206 OCEANE 2020 convertible bonds have been tendered into the French and/or U.S. offers.
• As a consequence, if these interim results are confirmed by the AMF in its notice of final results expected on January 5, 2016, and following settlement of the Offer on January 7, 2016, Nokia would hold 76.31% of the share capital and at least 76.01% of the voting rights of Alcatel-Lucent, 89.14% of the outstanding OCEANEs 2018, 24.34% of the outstanding OCEANEs 2019, and 15.11% of the outstanding OCEANEs 2020; this equates to Nokia holding 70.52% of the share capital on a fully diluted basis.

3:05 am Midatech Pharma enters licensing agreement with Emergex Vaccines (MTP) :

Midatech Pharma (MTP) announced that the Company has entered into a licensing agreement with Emergex Vaccines, a private UK biotechnology company focused on infectious diseases utilising Midatech's gold nanoparticle technology.

• Midatech has also agreed a Service and Manufacturing Agreement with Emergex for synthesis and for manufacturing of cGMP material for clinical trials.
• This exclusive licensing agreement is focused on Midatech's proprietary platform based on certain metal core glyconanoparticles and Emergex's development and commercialisation of various vaccines, to prevent/treat infectious diseases. This will be the first application of Midatech's nanoparticles within vaccines in infectious diseases.
• Midatech will receive initial, milestone and royalty payments as part of the deal. Specific terms of the agreement have not been disclosed

3:03 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Lenovo (LNVGY) unveiled its newly expanded and highly innovative X1 portfolio. Designed for forward thinkers, the series includes new additions such as the adaptable ThinkPad X1 Tablet with its unique modular design
• Ford (F) announced it is expanding its SYNC connectivity system, adding Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, 4G LTE and several new AppLink apps to help millions of consumers stay connected behind the wheel and even when they are away from their cars.
  

2:59 am Tesla Motors reports Q4 deliveries of 17.4K deliveries (TSLA) :

Co Q4 deliveries consisted of 17,192 Model S vehicles and 208 Model X vehicles. (507 Model X vehicles were produced during Q4 with the remainder to be delivered in early Q1.). This is on the lower end of co's guidance of 17,000 to 19,000 vehicles.

• Total 2015 Deliveries were 50,580 compared to co's prior guidance of 50,000 to 52,000 total deliveries for the year
• Q4 Model S deliveries were approximately 48% more than our prior quarterly record and approximately 75% more than Q4 last year. Model X deliveries are in line with the very early stages of Model X production ramp.
• That ramp has been increasing exponentially, with the daily production rate in the last week of the year tracking to production of 238 Model X vehicles per week.