8:03 am CB&I announces the award of a contract by NextDecade for front end engineering and design services related to the Rio Grande LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas (CBI) :  

8:03 am MSA Safety announces $100 million share repurchase program (MSA) : Co announces that its Board of Directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to $100 million in stock from time to time. This program replaces an earlier program authorized in 2005.

8:03 am Becton Dickinson has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for a new insulin infusion set with BD FlowSmart technology (BDX) : The infusion set with BD FlowSmart technology received approval for sale in Canada (January 2015) and United States (April 2015). An application has been submitted for CE marking and a response is anticipated from the Notified Body in May 2015. The product is expected to launch in the U.S. in fiscal year 2016.

8:03 am ANI Pharma has acquired the approved new drug applicationfor a testosterone gel 1% product previously licensed to Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) (ANIP) : Upon commercialization, ANI will pay Teva up to $5 million at a rate of 5% of the consideration received by ANI as a result of commercial sale of the product. According to IMS Health, the overall market for testosterone gel 1% was approximately $300 million in 2014.

8:02 am BioTime's announces that subsidiary Cell Cure Neurosciences has been awarded a 2015 grant of ~$1.61 mln to help finance the development of OpRegen (BTX) : Co announced that Cell Cure has been awarded a grant for 2015 of ~$1.61 million from Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist (:OCS) to help finance the development of OpRegen, a cell-based therapeutic product that consists of animal product-free retinal pigment epithelial cells with high purity and potency. Co expects to report interim data from the cohorts in the coming months

8:02 am Ashford Hospitality Prime increases its quarterly dividend policy to $0.10/share from $0.05/share, beginning in Q2 (AHP) :  

8:01 am Industrial Services announces the warm idle of its auto shredder in response to current market conditions (IDSA) : ISA's shredder is located in Louisville, KY and will be warm idled effective immediately. This action is in response to current market conditions, primarily related to ferrous price volatility and lower ferrous volumes. Management will continue to monitor and analyze market conditions and to review the Company's long-term options for its shredder and related downstream processing operation. The Company's shredder operation, which includes the downstream processing activities, had an operating loss in 2014. As noted above, the ferrous market has come under increased pressures during 2015. Management does not anticipate the cash costs of idling, including severance costs, to exceed $200,000.

8:01 am Gold Resource announces the resignation of CFO Joe Rodriguez, to pursue other opportunities; co appoints John Labate as interim CFO (GORO) : Co will immediately commence a search for a successor

8:01 am WuXi PharmaTech forms special committee of independent directors to evaluate the previously announced proposed takeover transaction (WX) : No decisions have been made by the Special Committee with respect to the Company's response to the proposed transaction.Also, the Company has been informed that on May 11, 2015, the Chairman, Ally Bridge Group Capital Partners and Boyu Capital Fund II, L.P. formed a consortium and entered into a related consortium agreement in connection with the proposed transaction.

8:01 am Corp Office Props amends the terms of its $800 mln line of credit (OFC) : The co announced it amended the terms of its $800 mln line of credit to extend the maturity date from July 14, 2017, to May 6, 2019 plus two six-month extension options; and lower the interest rate spread over 30-day LIBOR and the facility fee to current market. Also effective May 6, 2015, the Company amended the terms of its $250 million term loan and repaid $50 million on its $150 million term loan

8:00 am W.W. Grainger reports sales increases of 1% Y/Y for April 2015 (GWW) : Co also noted that results for the month included 1 percentage point from acquisitions and a 3 percentage point decline from unfavorable foreign exchange

7:56 am S&P futures vs fair value: +6.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +20.90. (:WRAPX) : U.S. equity futures trade modestly higher amid upbeat action overseas. The S&P 500 futures hover six points above fair value after hitting their highs at the start of the European session.

The advance in futures has been supported by strength in global bond markets. The U.S. 10-yr yield is lower by three basis points at 2.22% while Germany's benchmark yield has given up six basis points, sliding to 0.62%.

April Retail Sales (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) and April Import/Export Prices will be reported at 8:30 ET while the Business Inventories report for March (consensus 0.2%) will be released at 10:00 ET.

In U.S. corporate news of note:

• Danaher (DHR 91.51, +5.51): +6.4% after announcing the acquisition of Pall (PLL 124.33, +5.71) for $127.20/share, and revealing plans to split into two companies. 
• Delta Air Lines (DAL 47.33, +1.23): +2.7% after announcing a $5 billion buyback program and boosting its dividend 50% to $0.135. 
• Microsoft (MSFT 48.00, +0.65): +1.4% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to 'Buy' from 'Hold' with a $55 price target. 
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 133.06, +8.98): +7.2% after a couple of its drugs were recommended for FDA approvals. 

• Asian markets ended mixed. China's Shanghai Composite -0.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.6%, and Japan's Nikkei +0.7%. 
  • Economic data was plentiful:
    • Japan's March Current Account JPY2.795 tln (expected JPY 2.060 tln; prior JPY 1.440 tln), April Bank Lending +2.6% year-over-year (expected +2.5%; prior +2.6%), and April Economy Watchers Current Index 53.6 (expected 52.1; prior 52.2) 
    • China's April Fixed Asset Investment +12.0% year-over-year (expected +13.5%; prior +13.5%), April Industrial Production +5.9% year-over-year (expected +6.0%; prior +5.6%), April Retail Sales +10.0% year-over-year (expected +10.5%; prior +10.2%), April New Loans CNY 707.9 bln (expected CNY 903.0 bln; prior CNY 1,180.0 bln), April Outstanding Loan Growth 14.1% (expected 14.0%; prior 14.0%), April M2 Money Stock +10.1% year-over-year (expected +11.9%; prior +11.6%) 
    • South Korea's April Export Price Index -6.1% year-over-year (prior -6.8%) and April Import Price Index -17.1% (prior -17.1%) 
    • Australia's Q1 Wage Price Index +0.5% quarter-over-quarter (expected +0.6%; prior +0.6%); +2.3% year-over-year (expected +2.4%; prior +2.5% 
    • New Zealand's April FPI -0.3% month-over-month (prior +0.1%) 
  • In news: 
    • China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed on their lows in reaction to a batch of disappointing economic data that crossed during the final hours of the session.

• Major European indices trade higher across the board. UK's FTSE +0.4%, Germany's DAX +0.6%, and France's CAC +1.1%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +0.9% and Spain's IBEX +0.6% 
  • Participants received a full slate of data: 
    • Eurozone Q1 GDP +0.4% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.5%; prior 0.3%); +1.0% year-over-year (consensus 1.1%; last 0.9%). Separately, March Industrial Production -0.3% month-over-month (expected 0.2%; last 1.0%); +1.8% year-over-year, as expected (prior 1.9%) 
    • Germany's Q1 GDP +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.5%; prior 0.7%); +1.1% year-over-year (expected 1.2%; last 1.6%). Separately, April CPI 0.0% month-over-month (consensus -0.1%; last -0.1%); +0.5% year-over-year (consensus 0.4%; last 0.4%) 
    • UK's March Average Earnings Index + Bonus +1.9% (expected 1.7%; prior 1.7%). Separately, April Claimant Count -12,600 (expected -20,000; last -16,700) while the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% from 5.6%, as expected 
    • French Q1 GDP +0.6% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.4%; prior 0.1%). Separately, Q1 Nonfarm Payrolls -0.1% quarter-over-quarter (expected 0.0%; prior 0.0%) and April CPI +0.1% month-over-month (consensus 0.2%; last 0.7%) 
    • Italy's Q1 GDP +0.3% quarter-over-quarter (consensus 0.2%; prior 0.0%); 0.0% year-over-year (expected -0.2%; last -0.5%). Separately, April CPI +0.2% month-over-month (expected 0.3%; prior 0.2%); -0.1% year-over-year (consensus 0.0%; prior -0.1%) 
    • Spain's April CPI +0.9% month-over-month (consensus 1.0%; prior 0.6%); -0.6% year-over-year, as expected 
  • Among news of note: 
    • Greece's Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis said the government has no plans to call a referendum or snap elections. He added that a request has been made to hold an additional Eurogroup meeting on May 22.

7:53 am Restaurant Brands Int'l announces a $1.2 bln offering of first lien senior secured notes due 2022 (QSR) : Proceeds from the offering of the Notes, together with cash on hand, are expected to be used to repay approximately $1,550 million of the Issuers' outstanding First Lien Term Loan facility

7:42 am Magal Security recieves two new orders, worth a total of $13 mln (MAGS) : The first order is for an integrated security solution for several sites of a national power supplier in Latin America. The second order covers the maintenance and the technical support for a security project, which is already operational in Africa

7:41 am Overnight Treasury Summary (BONDX) : Treasury Rally Continues

• After a very bad start to the week, Treasury coupon securities have bounced sharply and are well above their lows of last week. The yield curve is slightly flatter with 2's/10's down 3 bps to 162 bps and 5's/30's down 1 bp to 145 bps
• Yield check:
• 2-yr: unch at 0.60%
• 5-yr: -2 bps to 1.54%
• 10-yr: -3 bps to 2.22%
• 30-yr: -3 bps to 2.99%

• International News:
• Chinese Industrial Production rose a worse-than-expected 5.9% y/y for April. Growth in March was 5.6%
• New Loans were 707.9 billion yuan in April, short of expectations and the 1,180.0 billion yuan in March
• Eurozone GDP grew 1.0% y/y in Q1 2015, slower than expectations but better than the 0.9% performance in Q4 2014
• French and Italian economic growth beat expectations and German growth missed
• According to the CPI's, inflation was in line with estimates in Germany, but missed expectations by a tenth of a percentage point in France, Italy, and Spain
• Eurozone Industrial Production fell 0.3% m/m in March, worse than expectations and the prior reading of 1.0%
• The number of jobless people in the U.K. fell by 35K to 1.83 million in March. The unemployment rate fell to 5.5% and average earnings rose by 1.9% in Q1
• The Bank of England reduced its growth forecast for the U.K. to 2.5% from 2.9% three months ago
• In the U.S., the MBA Mortgage Index for the week ending 05/09 fell 3.5% versus -4.6% for the prior week

• Data out Today: 
• April Retail Sales and Retail Sales ex-auto (08:30 ET)
• April Export Prices ex-agriculture and Import Prices ex-oil (08:30 ET)
• March Business Inventories (10:00 ET)
• Crude Inventories for the week ending 05/09 (10:30 ET)
• New Supply:
• $24 billion 10-year note auction (13:00 ET)

7:34 am TASER announces recent multiple orders, including up to 460 X2 Smart Weapons for the Scottsdale Police Department, received and shipped in Q2 (TASR) : Top orders included: 345 X2 smart weapons for the Miami Beach Police Department, 126 X26P weapons to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole and an international order for 230 X26P's, 150 TASER Cam HD recorders, and 10 X2 weapons

7:33 am Aldeyra Therapeutics reports Q1 results (ALDX) : Co reports net loss of ($0.32) per share vs ($0.38) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; zero revs

• "From a clinical perspective, the first three months of 2015 mark one of the most active quarters in Aldeyra's history with the launch of two Phase II clinical trials of NS2. Both the Sjgren-Larsson Syndrome trial and noninfectious anterior uveitis trial have begun enrollment and we expect to begin to provide preliminary data for these indications by the end of 2015."
  

7:33 am Shell Midstream Partners beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (SHLX) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.16; revenues rose 43.2% year/year to $51.7 mln vs the $51.95 mln consensus, due to continued strong transportation volumes across the Zydeco system.

• Total barrels transported on the mainline were 526,000 barrels per day for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. 
• Equity investments also delivered above expectations. Mars' outperformance was due to increased volumes from the Amberjack system and greater demand for shipments to Clovelly. Bengal's outperformance was due to increased volumes and higher storage revenue.
  

7:32 am ARAMARK Holdings beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides FY15 EPS in-line (ARMK) : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.37 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.35; revenues rose 2.6% year/year to $3.59 bln vs the $3.58 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $1.50-1.60, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.53 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

• "In the second quarter we delivered strong sales growth and financial performance across our portfolio. We simultaneously drove greater efficiency and productivity while investing in talent, branding and technology...We remain confident in the fundamental strength of our business, which we continue to leverage through the execution of a clear and focused strategy to create long-term shareholder value."
  

7:31 am Danaher announces intention to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies (DHR) :

• Co announced its intention to separate the company into two independent, publicly traded companies. The transaction will create: A science and technology growth company united by common business model characteristics, including significant recurring revenue and an attractive margin profile. The co will retain the Danaher name. Collectively, its businesses generated ~$16.5 bln in revenues (including Pall Corp, which Danaher has signed an agreement to acquire), in their most recently completed fiscal years.
• A diversified industrial growth company ("NewCo") with market leading positions, strong brand names and tremendous free cash flow generation. NewCo's businesses generated ~$6.0 bln in revenues in the most recently completed fiscal year.

• The co is targeting to complete the separation around the end of calendar year 2016, subject to the satisfaction of closing conditions, including obtaining final approval from the Danaher Board of Directors, satisfactory completion of financing, receipt of tax opinions, receipt of favorable rulings from the Internal Revenue Service and receipt of other regulatory approvals.
  

7:31 am Pall to be acquired by Danaher (DHR) for $127.20 per share in cash, or $13.8 bln including assumed debt and net of acquired cash (PLL) : The consideration represents approximately a 28 percent premium to Pall's common stock over the closing price of $99.31 on May 11, 2015, the last trading day prior to initial media speculation around a possible transaction. The transaction is not subject to any financing conditions. 

• The transaction is expected to be completed around the end of calendar year 2015. Danaher estimates the Pall acquisition will be approximately $0.40 accretive to non-GAAP, adjusted diluted net earnings per share in 2016, excluding non-cash amortization, purchase accounting and transaction expenses. 
• Danaher expects to finance the transaction primarily with available cash and proceeds from the issuance of debt or new credit facilities.

7:27 am Navios Maritime Acquisition reports Q1 Adj. EPS of $0.13 vs $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; revs $78.61 mln vs $76.71 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate (NNA) :

• "This has been our best quarter on record -- we grew revenue by 29.0% and EBITDA by ~50.0%. We also generated $20.0 million of net income in Q1, significantly more than we have generated in any prior full fiscal year."
  

7:27 am Shell Midstream Partners announces the private placement of 7.69 mln common units, for gross proceeds of $300 mln (SHLX) : The proceeds will be used to partially fund the acquisition of additional ownership interests in Zydeco Pipeline Company, LLC and Colonial Pipeline Company from Shell Pipeline Company LP. The private placement is expected to close May 18, 2015

7:24 am Shell Midstream Partners acquires additional interests in Zydeco Pipeline Company and the Colonial Pipeline Company for $448 mln from a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (SHLX) : The acquisition will increase Shell Midstream Partners' ownership interest in Zydeco to 62.5% from 43.0% and in Colonial to 3.0% from 1.612%.

• The acquisition is expected to be immediately and strongly accretive to the Partnership's distributable cash flow per unit based on an assumption of an additional $45 million of annualized adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization averaged over the next eighteen months. 
• The acquisition will be funded through a combination of proceeds from a private placement of new common units, borrowings under the revolving credit facility and cash on hand. The acquisition is expected to close on May 18, 2015
  

7:11 am Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announces the launch of a secondary offering of 10,575,300 shares of its common stock by selling shareholders; also enters into an agreement to repurchase $150 mln in common stock (HMHC) : The co announced the launch of a secondary offering of 10,575,300 shares of its common stock. The shares are being offered solely by certain existing stockholders of the Company affiliated with Paulson & Co. Inc. and the Company will not receive any of the proceeds of the offering.

• In addition, in a privately negotiated transaction, the Company entered into an agreement to repurchase $150 million in common stock from the selling stockholders affiliated with Paulson & Co. Inc. at a purchase price per share equal to the public offering price. The shares expected to be repurchased pursuant to this agreement are separate from the shares expected to be sold in the aforementioned public offering.
  

7:03 am Soligenix initiates a development agreement with Emergent BioSolutions to implement a commercially viable production technology for RiVax (SNGX) : RiVax is a vaccine candidate being developed to protect against ricin exposure. Soligenix will transfer the manufacturing processes and analytics to Emergent to conduct process development work that could potentially lead to a future commercial manufacturing collaboration.

7:03 am Markit reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; announces $500 mln buyback (MRKT) :

• Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.36 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.36; revenues rose 4.7% year/year to $271.5 mln vs the $272.09 mln consensus (+8.2% ex-FX, +6.1% organic). 
• This was driven by new business wins across our Solutions and Information segments, offset by a decrease in our Processing segment during the first quarter of 2015 as a result of lower primary loan issuance volumes during the period. 
• "Our board of directors authorised the repurchase of up to $500 mln of our common shares over the next two years, at the discretion of our management."
  

7:03 am Delta Air Lines announces a new $5 billion share repurchase program, and a dividend increase of 50% to $0.135/share beginning in the September, 2015 quarter (DAL) : Co announced that it is on track to complete the remaining $725 million of its prior $2 billion share repurchase authorization

7:01 am Emergent BioSolutions announce initiation of a prime boost study of ebola vaccine candidates (EBS) : A new phase 1 study has begun at the University of Oxford that will investigate the use of a modified vaccinia Ankara Ebola Zaire vaccine candidate as a prime-boost to GSK's (GSK) Chimp Adenovirus type 3 Ebola vaccine candidate. The study, being conducted by the clinical research group of Professor Adrian Hill of the Jenner Institute, has received regulatory approval to begin from the United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Emergent BioSolutions manufactured the supply of MVA EBOZ to be used in this phase 1 study, which is being conducted in the U.K. with support from the Wellcome Trust and the U.K. Department for International Development.

7:01 am Asian Markets Close: Japan's Nikkei +0.7%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.6%; China's Shanghai Composite -0.6% (:SUMRX) : Markets in the Asia-Pacific region finished mostly higher on Wednesday. The Hang Seng (-0.6%) and the Shanghai Composite (-0.6%) were the notable exceptions as they fell prone to selling pressure following a batch of economic data from the mainland, including retail sales, industrial production, and fixed asset investment, that was weaker than expected.

Economic data

• Japan
• March Current Account JPY 2.795 tln (expected JPY 2.060 tln; prior JPY 1.440 tln)
• April Bank Lending +2.6% year-over-year (expected +2.5%; prior +2.6%)
• April Economy Watchers Current Index 53.6 (expected 52.1; prior 52.2)
• China
• April Fixed Asset Investment +12.0% year-over-year (expected +13.5%; prior +13.5%)
• April Industrial Production +5.9% year-over-year (expected +6.0%; prior +5.6%)
• April Retail Sales +10.0% year-over-year (expected +10.5%; prior +10.2%)
• April New Loans CNY 707.9 bln (expected CNY 903.0 bln; prior CNY 1,180.0 bln)
• April Outstanding Loan Growth 14.1% (expected 14.0%; prior 14.0%)
• April M2 Money Stock +10.1% year-over-year (expected +11.9%; prior +11.6%)
• South Korea
• April Export Price Index -6.1% year-over-year (prior -6.8%)
• April Import Price Index -17.1% (prior -17.1%)
• Australia
• Q1 Wage Price Index +0.5% quarter-over-quarter (expected +0.6%; prior +0.6%); +2.3% year-over-year (expected +2.4%; prior +2.5%
• New Zealand
• April FPI -0.3% month-over-month (prior +0.1%)

• Japan's Nikkei increased 0.7% and finished near its highs for the day after the country posted its largest current account surplus in seven years, according to reports. The gains were led by the basic materials (+1.2%), energy (+1.1%), and consumer cyclical (+1.1%) sectors. Toho Zinc Co (+9.9%), Pacific Metals Co (+7.6%), and Shimizu Corp (+6.5%) topped the list of individual winners while Mitsumi Electric Co (-8.1%), Yokogawa Electric (-5.3%), and Nippon Soda Co (-5.2%) paced the losers. Out of the 225 index members 134 ended higher, 90 finished lower, and 1 was unchanged.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.6%, trailing off in the afternoon trade after sporting modest gains early in the session. The decline was led by the financial (-0.8%) and basic materials (-0.8%) sectors. China Resources Land (-6.3%), China Merchants Holdings (-2.7%), and Tingyi Cayman Islands Holding Corp (-2.6%) were the biggest individual losers. Hang Seng Bank (+2.9%) and Kunlun Energy Co (+1.7%) were the only two stocks to gain in excess of 1.0%. Out of the 50 index members, 8 ended higher and 42 finished lower.
• China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.6% with the bulk of the losses coming in the final hour of trade. The losses came on the back of a raft of April data that was weaker than consensus views, including fixed asset investment, industrial production, retail sales, and new loans for April. The technology (-1.8%), financial (-1.1%), and industrial (-0.9%) sectors were influential laggards in the Chinese market on Wednesday.
• India's Sensex increased 1.4% and finished near its highs for the day. Leading sectors included the financial (+2.7%), industrial (+2.0%), and utilities (+1.7%) sectors. Axis Bank (+4.9%), GAIL India (+3.0%), and State Bank of India (+2.6%) topped the list of individual winners. Hindalco Industries (-3.0%), Bharti Airtel (-2.3%), and NTPC Ltd (-2.3%) led declining issues.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.7% and ended near its highs for the day as investors responded favorably to the government's latest federal budget. The advance was led by the gold (+2.4%), consumer staples (+1.7%), and consumer discretionary (+1.2%) sectors.
• Regional advancers: Taiwan +0.5%, South Korea +0.8%, Singapore +0.3%, Malaysia +0.3%, Thailand +0.7%, Indonesia +0.8%, Philippines +0.2%
• Regional decliners: Vietnam -0.3%

• USD/CNY -0.07% at 6.2046
• USD/INR -0.5% at 63.980
• USD/JPY -0.1% at 119.78
  

7:01 am JinkoSolar has signed a strategy cooperation agreement for the supply of 1 GW of solar PV modules with China Minsheng New Energy (JKS) : According to the terms of the agreement, CMNE will purchase a minimum of 1 GW of solar PV modules with priority given to JinkoSolar in case of same terms and conditions over the two years spanning 2015 and 2016 with the minimum amount allocated for 2015 being no less than 600 MW. The specific terms of the agreement will be subject to the formal purchase contract signed by both parties.

7:01 am Cowen Group announces a private offering of 105k shares of Series A cumulative perpetual convertible preferred stock (COWN) : Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to pay the cost of a capped call option transaction or transactions, and the remainder of the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes

7:01 am Williams Partners: Williams (WMB) to acquire all public equity of Williams Partners L.P.; Plans 3Q 2015 dividend increase to $0.64 or $2.56 on an annualized basis; expects dividend growth of 10%-15% annually through 2020 (WPZ) : Williams (WMB) and Williams Partners L.P. (WPZ) announced an agreement under which Williams will acquire all of the public outstanding common units of Williams Partners in an all stock-for-unit transaction at a 1.115 ratio of Williams common shares per unit of Williams Partners. The implied Williams Partners unit price as of May 12, 2015 represents a 14.5% premium to its 10-trading day average closing price and a 12.6% premium to its 20-trading day average closing price.

Upon completion of the proposed transaction, expected to occur in Q3 of 2015, the combined entity is anticipated to be one of the largest and fastest-growing high-dividend paying C-Corps in the energy sector with an industry-leading 10% to 15% annual dividend growth rate through 2020.

The combined entity is expected to generate adjusted EBITDA of ~$5.4 bln in 2016. The combined entity expects to pay a Q3 2015 dividend of $0.64/share, or $2.56/share on an annual basis, up 6.7% over Williams' previously planned Q3 2015 dividend of $0.60 per share. Dividends for 2016 are expected to total $2.85/share, about 20% above Williams' previously guided 2015 dividend and 6.3% above its previously guided 2016 dividend.

In aggregate, Williams will issue 275.4 mln shares in connection with the proposed transaction, representing ~27% of the total shares outstanding of the combined entity. The transaction will be taxable to Williams Partners unitholders, and Williams will receive the tax benefits from the asset step-up to be realized over a 15-year period.

7:01 am Teradyne to acquire privately held Universal Robots for $285 mln net of cash; expected to be immediately accretive (TER) : The co announced it will acquire privately held Universal Robots, a Danish collaborative robot producer, for $285 million net of cash acquired plus $65 million if certain performance targets are met extending through 2018. The acquisition has been approved by the Board of Directors of each company and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. Collaborative robotics is a $100 million segment of the industrial robotics market growing at more than 50% per year.

7:00 am Sanofi-Aventis has exercised its option to an exclusive license to develop an immunotherapy for the treatment of celiac disease under the terms of an existing strategic global collaboration with Selecta Biosciences (SNY) : The products resulting from this collaboration will leverage Selecta's proprietary Synthetic Vaccine Particle platform, which has unique capabilities to engineer nanoparticles with the structure and composition to produce immune tolerance by attenuating the overactive response to specific antigens. 

• Under the terms of the collaboration, Selecta is eligible to receive research support and several pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and sales milestones totaling up to $300 million for this new program in celiac disease. Additionally, Selecta is also entitled to up to double digit tiered royalties as percentage of product net sales for any commercialized immunotherapy resulting from these efforts with Sanofi.

7:00 am Tessera Tech has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Toshiba (TOSBF) for unpaid royalties and audit right interference; reaffirms 2015 guidance (TSRA) : filed a breach of contract lawsuit in California state court against Toshiba Corporation. Tessera alleges that Toshiba failed to pay amounts owed for years under the parties' license agreement and interfered with Tessera, Inc.'s exercise of its audit rights.

• In 2011 independent auditors found that Toshiba had not paid all amounts due under the agreement. Toshiba refused to pay the amounts that the auditors determined to be owed, and then in 2013, while the parties were attempting to resolve the audit issue, Toshiba unilaterally stopped paying all royalties. Notwithstanding this dispute, the agreement remains in full force and effect. 
• Tessera is making no adjustments to second quarter revenue or earnings per share guidance, and also maintains its 2015 recurring revenue guidance
  

6:58 am BioCryst Pharm announces the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of orally-administered BCX7353 in healthy volunteers (BCRX) : The main goals of the Phase 1 clinical trial are to assess safety, characterize plasma drug levels in healthy volunteers, and estimate the extent of kallikrein inhibition achieved after oral dosing of BCX7353.

6:40 am Israel Chemical beats Q1 estimates (ICL) : Q1 adj. EPS $0.15 vs $0.11 Capital IQ Consensus; revs -13% to $1.4 bln vs $1.37 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

• "The employee strike that was launched during the first quarter was expected and followed a long process of negotiations as part of the implementation of vital efficiency initiatives. However, gains from divestitures of non-core businesses during the quarter more than offset the financial impact of the strike, and we expect to recover most of our delayed potash production and sales in future periods following the conclusion of the strike. Despite the longer than expected duration of the strike, we expect a significant net benefit from efficiency measures implemented at these operations."
  

6:36 am Materialise beats by EUR 0.01, beats on revs; reaffirms FY15 guidance (MTLS) : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of 0.02 per share, 0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of (0.03); revenues rose 24.6% year/year to 23.3 mln vs the 22.7 mln consensus, driven by a very strong gain in the 3D Printing Software segment (+51.6%) and double-digit growth in the Medical and Industrial Production segments. Excluding revenue from OrthoView, which we acquired in October 2014, total revenue for the quarter increased 20.2%. 

Co reaffirms guidance for FY15, sees FY15 revs of EUR 99-101 mln vs. 99.87 mln Capital IQ Consensus; EBITDA EUR 4-5 mln. 

6:32 am Owens-Illinois acquires Vitro S.A.B's food and beverage business for $2.15 bln, with expected accretion to cash flow and EPS in 2016 (OI) : The deal is expected to close within 12 months and includes Vitro's five plants in Mexico and one in Bolivia.The acquired business is expected to generate estimated annual revenue of $945 million and adjusted EBITDA of $278 million. Further, co expects to realize approximately $30 million in run-rate cost synergies by 2018 through a combination of procurement savings and operating efficiencies. The transaction is expected to be accretive to cash flow and earnings per share in the first year after closing.

6:32 am Syneron Medical reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (ELOS) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.02 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 11.6% year/year to $63.4 mln vs the $62.5 mln consensus. 

• "As of end of April we sold 56 systems in North America from January 1 and we remain on track with our UltraShape revenue plan for the year. In the first full quarter selling PicoWay we continue to see strong interest, giving us confidence in the sales growth potential of Picoway, which was enhanced by the recently received FDA clearance for treatment of pigmented lesions."
  

6:30 am Genesee & Wyoming reports traffic volumes for April 2015; reporting 161,986 carloads, a decrease of 5% Y/Y (GWR) : Co reported traffic in April 2015 was 161,986 carloads, a decrease of 8,527 carloads, or 5.0%, compared with April 2014. Co's same-railroad traffic in April 2015 was 153,529 carloads, a decrease of 16,984 carloads, or 10% Y/Y. Traffic from G&W's Freightliner acquisition was not included in reported figures

6:30 am Control4 announces that its Board has authorized the repurchase of up to $20 mln in common stock from time to time on the open market (CTRL) : The repurchase program will be funded using Control4's working capital. As of March 31, 2015, Control4 had cash, cash equivalents and net investments of $84.1 million. As of March 31, 2015, Control4 had approximately 24.3 million common shares outstanding.

6:28 am Zebra Tech beats by $0.28, beats on revs; guides Q2 in-line (ZBRA) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $1.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.28 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.11; revenues rose 209.8% year/year to $893.2 mln vs the $881.81 mln consensus.

• The Enterprise business acquired from Motorola Solutions contributed $561.6 million to 2015 first quarter sales, including a reduction in sales for purchase accounting adjustments of $5.6 million related to service contracts acquired with the Enterprise business. 
• Sales of legacy Zebra totaled $331.6 million, up 15.0% from $288.3 million for the first quarter of 2014. The effect of movements in foreign currency, net of hedges, reduced sales on legacy Zebra by $2.4 million.

6:06 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• AstraZeneca (AZN) announced that it has entered an agreement with Abbott (ABT) to develop companion diagnostic tests to identify patients with severe asthma who are most likely to benefit from the investigational biological therapy, tralokinumab. Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott will develop and commercialise diagnostic tests to measure serum levels of the proteins periostin and DPP4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4), which have been identified as potential predictive biomarkers of up-regulated IL-13 in severe asthma. The co also announced collaboration with the Montreal Heart Institute in Quebec, Canada, to search the genomes of up to 80,000 patients for genes associated with cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, their complications and treatment outcomes
• Calpine Corporation (CPN) has named W.G. Griggs III its Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer effective June 1, 2015. Previously Mr. Griggs was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co. Calpine also announced succession plans for Jim Deidiker, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, who is planning to retire. Jeff Koshkin, currently Vice President and Controller, will succeed Mr. Deidiker on August 1. Mr. Deidiker has agreed to remain at the company in a consultative capacity until March 15, 2016.
• RE/MAX (RMAX) announced that its executives delivered a personal letter from RE/MAX CEO and Co-Founder Dave Liniger to CFPB Director Richard Cordray requesting a "good faith grace period" for the introduction of new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure regulations. In the open letter to Cordray, Linger requests that there be no enforcement from August 1 to December 31 to provide the industry with time to adjust new timelines and forms in the mortgage closing process. 
• SMART Technologies (SMT) announces that the new 84" version of the SMART kapp digital capture board is now shipping.
• ITCTransmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC Holdings (ITC), announced its Thumb Loop high-voltage transmission project is complete with the energization of the third and final phase of the project. 
• Elbit Imaging Ltd. (EMITF) announced that its subsidiary, Plaza Centers N.V., has reached an agreement to sell Koregaon Park Plaza, the retail, entertainment and office scheme located in Pune, India for ~$39 million, consistent with the asset's last reported book value. The net cash proceeds from the sale will be ~$8 million
• ZAZOO, a business unit of Net 1 UEPS Technologies (UEPS) announced that it has launched its Utility Vending System at African Utility Week held in Cape Town. This turnkey vending solution simplifies tariff management and consumer arrears collection, allowing utilities and municipalities to manage prepaid vending for electricity, water and gas meters more efficiently and cost effectively.

6:03 am Amphastar Pharmaceuticals beats by $0.05, beats on revs (AMPH) : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.01 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.06); revenues rose 24.0% year/year to $56.9 mln vs the $54.02 mln consensus. 

• The proprietary pipeline includes a new drug application, or NDA, for Primatene and an NDA supplement for Amphadase. The Company is currently developing six other proprietary drugs including injectables, inhalation products, and other dosage forms.
  

6:01 am Tonix Pharma announces the launch of a Phase 3 clinical study of TNX-102 SL, to treat Fibromyalgia (TNXP) : The primary outcome assessment for the study will be a pain responder analysis, defined as the proportion of patients who report at least a 30 percent reduction in pain from baseline at the end of the 12-week treatment period. Tonix expects to report top-line results from the AFFIRM study in the second half of 2016

6:00 am Cesca Therapeutics submits U.S. pivotal IDE amendment application for late stage critical limb ischemia (KOOL) : The co announced it has submitted its amendment to the investigational device exemption application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a U.S. pivotal multicenter study of the Company's SurgWerks-CLI and VXP System (SurgWerks-CLI) for treating advanced stages of no-option lower limb critical limb ischemia. The amendment outlines the Company's responses to the FDA's deficiencies in the original pivotal application. The amendment includes considerable data specific to assessing the SurgWerks-CLI and VXP System autologous cellular output and new methods in assessing the rapid device output in the operating room. The Company also notes that it has filed additional intellectual property as a result of this new work. 

• The CLIRST III study will be a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of the SurgWerks-CLI and VXP System in CLI patients with non-healing foot ulcers who have no further surgical options except a major amputation versus a blinded placebo control of the same population. The primary endpoint is major amputation free survival at 12 months following enrollment and there will be an interim analysis for futility or repowering (adding more subjects) if necessary.
  

5:52 am Precision Castparts also announced its Board approved a $2 bln expansion to the existing share repurchase program, effective immediately and continuing through June 30, 2017 (PCP) : As of May 13, 2015, the Company had used $2.3 billion of the $2.5 billion previously authorized.

5:52 am S&P futures vs fair value: +8.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +26.10. :

5:51 am European Markets : FTSE...6973.96...+40.20...+0.60%.  DAX...11544.81...+72.40...+0.60%.

5:51 am Asian Markets : Nikkei...19764.72...+139.90...+0.70%.  Hang Seng...27249.28...-157.90...-0.60%.

4:58 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• SEPHORA, the leading global beauty retailer, today announced the launch of its first and only Chinese online flagship store on JD.com (JD). This marks a significant step forward for Sephora, the leading beauty retailer of LVMH Group, in its e-commerce and overall retail strategy for China. 
• UTStarcom (UTSI) announced that its partner, aioTV has received a new critical patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This latest patent, in addition to aioTV's other granted patents, is indicative of its growing capabilities to enable video providers to create channels and packages from a blend of VOD, linear and Internet video within a common experience. 
• Willis Re, the reinsurance division of Willis Group Holdings (WSH) announced the establishment of a unique syndicated reinsurance facility providing the broadest protection available for insurers against catastrophic and systemic loss accumulations arising from liability portfolios.
  

4:20 am Toyota Motor expands Takata airbag safety recalls (TM) : Co announced that it is expanding its recalls involving Takata air bag inflators.

• First, Toyota will conduct a recall to replace Takata-supplied driver front airbag inflators on approximately 160,000 model year 2004 and 2005 RAV4 sport utility vehicles. The inflators could potentially be susceptible to rupture when deployed in a crash, increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
• For similar reasons, Toyota will expand two existing recalls for Takata-supplied front passenger airbag inflators, namely: 
• Toyota's nationwide recall launched in April 2013 will expand to include approximately an additional 177,000 model year 2003-2004 Tundra and model year 2004 Sequoia vehicles.

4:13 am Precision Castparts beats lowered EPS expectations; guides FY16 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (PCP) : Reports Q4 (Mar) earnings of $2.94 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $2.92; revenues fell 0.6% year/year to $2.5 bln vs the $2.46 bln consensus, driven primarily by increased IGT activity. Contractual pass-through pricing was flat year-over-year.

• Co warned on April 13, guiding for EPS of $2.90-2.95 vs. $3.21 consensus.
• mmercial aerospace sales declined by 3% year-over-year, resulting primarily from spares demand that was down more than 15%, but stable quarter over quarter. 
• Regional/business jet sales were higher, while military shipments were essentially flat. IGT sales improved by 13%, driven by the Company's higher content on upgrade programs and new production turbines, as well as growing spares demand.
• The segment's operating income increased by 4%, and operating margins expanded by 40 basis points year over year from 35.6% to 36.0%, resulting from effective leverage of higher volumes.

4:07 am ResMed provides update on Phase III SERVE-HF Study of Adaptive Servo-Ventilation Therapy In central sleep apnea and chronic heart failure; study did not meet primary endpoint (RMD) : Co announced that SERVE-HF, a multinational, multicenter, randomized controlled Phase III trial did not meet its primary endpoint. SERVE-HF was designed to assess whether the treatment of moderate to severe predominant central sleep apnea with Adaptive Servo-Ventilation therapy could reduce mortality and morbidity in patients with symptomatic chronic heart failure in addition to optimized medical care.

• The study did not show a statistically significant difference between patients randomized to ASV therapy and those in the control group in the primary endpoint of time to all-cause mortality or unplanned hospitalization for worsening heart failure. The results from SERVE-HF are preliminary and will be submitted for future publication after further analysis. 
• A preliminary analysis of the data identified a statistically significant 2.5% absolute increased risk of cardiovascular mortality for those patients in the trial who received ASV therapy per year compared to those in the control group. In the study, the cardiovascular mortality rate in the ASV group was 10% per year compared to 7.5% per year in the control group. There were no issues associated with the performance of the ASV therapy device in the trial.

4:05 am Pluristem Therapeutics' PLX cells one step closer to entering Japan's accelerated pathway for Regenerative Medicine (PSTI) : Pluristem Therapeutics announced that Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency agreed with the proposed quality and large-scale manufacturing methods for PLX-PAD cells for use in clinical trials. This agreement is an important milestone for initiation of a Phase I/II study in critical limb ischemia through Japan's Accelerated Pathway for Regenerative Medicine. The new regulatory pathway could potentially significantly reduce time to market for cell therapies such as PLX cells.

4:03 am Alibaba Group's Tmall.com partners with Walt Disney (DIS) to distribute movie merchandise for the first time (BABA) : Tmall.com, China's largest third-party B2C platform for brands and retailers and a business of Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) has teamed up with The Walt Disney (DIS), America's mass media and entertainment company to be the first exclusive distributor of their Marvel Studio's 2015 blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron merchandise on Tmall.com. This is the first time Alibaba Group has opened up its resources in connecting brands and filmmakers to establish a convenient model in developing a movie-related merchandise market made available online for movie fans.

3:18 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Veeva Systems (VEEV) announced it will launch Veeva Vault Registrations, a comprehensive solution to manage product registration data worldwide, including registration status, variations, and health authority interactions. The new offering will be part of Veeva's regulatory information management (:RIM) suite that will also include Vault Submissions and Vault SubmissionsArchive.
• CGG (CGG) announced a western extension of the Horda BroadSeisTM-BroadSourceTM 3D multi-client program it began acquiring in the Northern North Sea offshore Norway in 2014. The extension, known as Tampen, is located in the Northern Viking Graben offshore Norway and the UK and is expected to be completed in 2016.

2:43 am FedEx provides update on the intended offer for TNT Express (TNTEY) (FDX) : FedEx announces financing of the offer for TNT Express in place.

• The Offer values 100% of the issued and outstanding TNT Express ordinary shares at approximately 4.4 billion. 
• FedEx will be able to finance the aggregate consideration of the Offer by utilizing available cash on its balance sheet and through existing and new debt arrangements. 
• FedEx will be able to pay approximately 1.5 billion of the Offer consideration with cash from its own available resources. 
• In addition, FedEx has secured fully committed debt financing in the amount of 2.0 billion, subject to customary conditions, and can utilize an existing credit facility for an amount of approximately 0.9 billion.

2:36 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• With the adoption rate of the ARM (ARMH) mbed IoT Device Platform increasing rapidly, the company has announced a new assurance standard, the ARM mbed Enabled program. The move is expected to increase the deployment rate of Internet of Things products and supporting technologies by giving partners the ability to label them as interoperable mbed-based devices. 
• With a 412-kilowatt high efficiency SunPower (SPWR) solar power system installed on its rooftop earlier this year, Amman Academy in Jordan estimates it is now powering approximately 70 percent of its operations with emission-free solar energy. 
• Staples (SPLS) announced a partnership with Bidvest Waltons, South Africa's leading office products company, and Dacris, a major distributor of office supplies in Romania.

1:27 am Spark Energy announces acquisition of Oasis Energy (SPKE) : Co announced that Spark and an affiliate of its founder and majority shareholder have entered into a purchase and sale agreement for the acquisition of Oasis Energy, a retail energy company with approximately 40,000 natural gas and electricity customers in six states.

• Oasis serves these customers across 19 utilities, several of which are new to Spark and provide additional organic growth opportunities for the Company. 
• The purchase price is $20.0 million, subject to working capital adjustments. As part of the transaction, the Company will issue $5.0 million of its 5% convertible subordinated notes with a term of five years to the seller. 
• The convertible subordinated notes are convertible into shares of Class B common stock at a conversion price of $14.00 following an 18-month holding period. 
  

1:24 am Orexigen Therapeutics provides statement on termination of the light study and updates on Contrave collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals (TKPYY) (OREX) : Orexigen Therapeutics issued the following statement regarding the termination of the Light Study a cardiovascular outcomes trial that compared the obesity drug Contrave to placebo, in addition to diet and exercise counselling, in 8,909 overweight and obese patients with certain CV risk factors, and an update on its Contrave collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company.

"This morning we and Takeda announced termination of the Light Study. We agreed with our partner, and together discussed our preferences with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (:FDA), that it was best to conclude the study in an orderly fashion, search for and gather all CV events and other safety data, have the CV events properly adjudicated, carefully analyze the final data and have these data presented and published in a scientific forum...We are pleased that the Light Study is now being terminated and want to thank the patients and all of those involved in the study. This trial has yielded important information about the safety profile for Contrave...We have been informed that Takeda is on track to initiate a PMR cardiovascular outcomes trial (:CVOT) later this year and recently achieved the first planned milestone with FDA acceptance of the study protocol in April...Today some of the 50% interim analysis of the Light Study was disclosed by a third party. Because most of our management team remains blinded to the 50% data, we are unable to comment..."

Update with Takeda
Takeda and Orexigen will now enter into a dispute resolution process, which may include arbitration, unless our differences can be resolved otherwise. The protocol for dispute resolution is set out in the collaboration agreement.  

• Co does not believe this dispute should impact the commercialization of Contrave.
• Co currently evaluating the assertions made by Takeda and believe they are without merit. 
• Further co intends to vigorously defend all of their rights and remedies, and assert any counterclaims that we have against Takeda. 

1:04 am Rice Energy prices 6,000,000 shares of its common stock owned by NGP Rice Holdings at $24.20 per share of common stock (RICE) :