11:53 am European Markets Closing Prices (:SUMRX) : European markets are now closed; stock markets across Europe performed as follows:

• UK's FTSE:-1.3%
• Germany's DAX:-3.1%
• France's CAC:-2.6%
• Spain's IBEX:-2.6%
• Portugal's PSI:-0.7%
• Italy's MIB Index:-2.7%
• Irish Ovrl Index:-1.0%
• Greece ASE General Index: +0.8%

11:47 am Major averages push to new rebound highs -- Dow -136, S&P -12, Nasdaq Comp -16 (:TECHX) : Some relative strength in recent trade has been noted in: Semi SMH, REITs IYR, Restaurant, Internet FDN, Software IGV (ADBE +3%, SYMC +1.8%, CTXS +1.1%^, ADSK +1%).

11:40 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (119) outpacing new highs (29) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ACET, ADEP, AMRK, ARL, BKSC, CALD, CART, COLL, ENR, EXPE, HILL, HSKA, MAMS, MCZ, MPG, NAVB, NEO, NSA, NSTG, PGI, PSEM, PTLA, SPRO, SPWH, SRPT, TE, THLD, TMUS, TRVN

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACAS, ACW, ADTN, AIQ, AM, ANW, ARC, ARCW, ARO, AXAS, AXLL, BBG, BBGI, BBOX, BCBP, BSBR, BTE, BWEN, BWINB, CAF, CAI, CBD, CEQP, CFX, CGNT, CLC, CMLS, CNHI, CNV, CPGX, CSII, DAR, DCIX, DD, ENBL, FMC, FMSA, FRPT, FSYS, GBSN, GHL, GLRI, HGR, HST, HUN, HURC, HZN, INOD, IP, IPI, KAMN, KERX, KMT, KS, LNN, LPSN, LQ, LUK, M, MHR, MOG.A, MOG.B, MON, MPLX, MT, MWE, NATR, NEWS, NLST, NSAT, NSPR, NUE, OLN, OOMA, ORN, PAH, PGN, PKOH, PNR, PSF, PVA, RCG, RPTP, SAIA, SCHN, SFY, SGI, SGOC, SLRC, SNHY, SPAR, SPNC, SPP, STAY, STV, SWN, TAXI, TDF, TEF, TNC, TPLM, TRIB, TROX, TSU, TUTI, TWI, UMH, VRNT, VRS, VRTS, VSEC, VSI, VXUP, WGA, WPRT, WWW, WYY, X, XNPT

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none

11:24 am American Express at Barclays Conf. reaffirms 2015-2017 Financial Outlook (AXP) :

Co reaffirmed the company's financial outlook for 2015, 2016 and 2017.

• "For the full year, our 2015 EPS outlook remains unchanged, as we continue to expect EPS to be flat to modestly down[ consensus $5.49 vs. $5.56 last year]. We also believe our outlook to return to positive earnings per share growth in 2016 and within our target range of 12-15% in 2017 remains appropriate. As you recall, this outlook does not contemplate the impact of any restructuring charges or other contingencies."
• "We will likely have more unevenness in our performance from quarter to quarter than has been typical of our business."
• "We believe that our core underlying earnings performance this quarter will be generally consistent with the financial outlook framework that we first shared with you at our Investor Day in March. Although after adjusting for FX, we do expect the billings growth rate this quarter to be in line with or modestly below what we saw in the second quarter. In addition, we expect revenue growth this quarter to be slower than the second quarter revenue growth rate, adjusting for FX and business travel."

11:20 am Currency Commentary: Dollar Offered Post-Fed (:SUMRX) :

• The Dollar Index is working its way of the 94 level. The DXY fell approx 70 pips following the FOMC announcement which saw the central bank stand pat on its ZIRP policy. The message from the Fed itself was dovish which may have caught a few investors off guard. 94 has held some early support but will likely be challenged as investors try to figure when an actual Fed lift off can occur. 92.62, the multi-month low from August, could also come back into play if selling in the greenback continues. Economic data continued to run just below expectations with the Leading Indicators being the latest to miss consensus.
• The euro was able to rally to 1.1470 following the Fed news but has given up most of its gains. The single currency is now trading at 1.1368, nearly 100 pips from its session highs. Markets are focusing on the dollar weakness and the Fed, but ECB officials continue to make dovish comments that is leading the market to believe the central bank will increase its current purchase program.
• The pound has rallied approx 3.5% over the past two weeks. The move has allowed it to pass key moving averages ranging from the 20- to 200-smas. The 50- and 100-sma stand at 1.5523-1.5528 which will set up as a key support level for any pullbacks.
• The yen has rallied back above 120 to trade at 119.80. The yen was boosted by some safe haven buying and dollar weakness following the Fed announcement (BONDX, FOREX).

11:16 am Major averages probing their initial rebound highs -- Dow -187, S&P -18, Nasdaq Comp -33 (:TECHX) : Mentioned earlier that the S&P has intraday resistances at 1977 and 1981 with a key zone at 1986/1987. 

11:04 am Popular reinstates its quarterly dividend, declares a payout of $0.15/share (BPOP) :  

11:01 am Mechel Steel receives a notice of non-compliance with regard to the NYSE's $1 minimum price bid rule; co will use its right to change the ADR to ordinary share ratio, to regain compliance (MTL) :  

10:17 am Norfolk Southern restructures its Triple Crown Services subsidiary to focus on the transportation of automobile parts (NSC) :

The railroad will work with shippers and logistics partners to convert other business handled by Triple Crown Services into Norfolk Southern's current intermodal network. 

• Norfolk Southern expects that the TCS workforce will be downsized by about 200 employees by the end 2015 and will recognize accelerated depreciation and other costs totaling approximately $65 million in the third and fourth quarters of 2015.
• The restructuring is expected to be modestly accretive to earnings beginning in 2016.

10:11 am Market averages attempting lift off of early lows -- Dow -207, S&P -18, Nasdaq Comp -32 (:TECHX) : Noted earlier that the S&P had support at 1967/1965 with the trendline off the Aug/early Sep low at roughly 1960.  The index dipped between these levels (session low 1962) and has attempted to rebound.  Initial intraday resistances are at 1977 and 1981 with a key zone at 1986/1987. 

9:50 am Duke Energy reaches an agreement with consumer groups in Indiana, related to operating costs at Duke Energy's Edwardsport coal gasification power plant (DUK) :

Participants in the settlement are the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the Duke Energy Indiana Industrial Group and Nucor Steel-Indiana.

• Key provisions of the proposed settlement include:
  • The company has agreed not to bill customers $85 million of operating costs deferred since the plant's in-service date. If approved by state regulators, the remaining operating costs charged to customers will result in an approximately 2 percent customer bill increase. There will be regulatory hearings on the settlement, and a commission decision is possible in the first half of 2016.
  • The settling parties agree that the plant's commercial operation in-service date will remain June 7, 2013, for accounting and ratemaking purposes. During 2016 and 2017, the company will cap annual plant operating, maintenance and capital costs billed to customers.
  • The agreement also designates $5 million, out of shareholder funds, for attorney fees, litigation expenses, and funding commitments.
  • As a result of the settlement provisions, Duke Energy expects to take a pretax charge of ~$90 million in the third quarter of 2015. This charge will be reflected as a "special item" and, therefore, excluded from the company's adjusted diluted earnings per share.

9:48 am S&P -24 initial slide stalls at support but little interest noted. (SPY) : Highlighted support at 1967/1965 in The Technical Take (09:36 update) with it reaching as low as 1965.  While it has stabilized we have seen little interest develop.  A trendline off the Aut low and the Sep 4 low comes into play at roughly 1960. 

9:44 am Opening Market Summary: Blue Chips Lead Early Slide (:WRAPX) :

The stock market has stumbled out of the gate with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-1.3%) pacing the early slide while the Nasdaq (-1.0%) and S&P 500 (-1.0%) trade a bit ahead.

The early selling has been far-reaching with nine sectors down between 0.5% (consumer staples) and 1.8% (energy) while the utilities space hovers just above its flat line. Furthermore, more than six NYSE listings trade in the red for each advancer.

Treasuries continue hovering near their highs with the 10-yr yield down six basis points at 2.16%.

The Leading Indicators report for August (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) will be released at 10:00 ET.

9:41 am Relative sector weakness (:TECHX) : Sectors that have paced the way on a percentage basis thus far this morning include: Crude Oil USO, Oil Service OIH, Bank KBE, Reg Bank KRE, Broker IAI, Solar TAN, Copper JJC, Energy XLE, Finance XLF, Auto CARZ, Casino, Industrial XLI, Networking IGN.

9:36 am S&P -22 quickly slides back toward a secondary support zone at 1967/1965 (SPY) :  

9:34 am Stock indices opened firmly lower following yesterday's late downside reversal -- Dow -194, S&P -19, Nasdaq Comp -55 (:TECHX) :  

9:29 am On the Wires (:WIRES) :

• Atlantic Coast Pipeline, formed by Dominion (D), Duke Energy (DUK), Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) and AGL Resources (GAS), formally applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to build a 564-mile interstate natural gas transmission pipeline designed to meet the need for cleaner electricity generation, satisfy the growing demand for natural gas to heat homes and businesses, and promote consumer savings and economic growth. The pipeline would transport abundant natural gas supplies from Harrison County, W.Va., southeast through Virginia with an extension to Chesapeake, Va., and south through central North Carolina to Robeson County.
• Lending Club (LC) announced that its marketplace is now available to investors in Indiana, Kansas, and Nebraska, bringing the total number of investor states available to retail investors to 36

9:26 am Qihoo 360 Tech. reaches an agreement with Coolpad Group to adjust their respective shareholding in their Coolpad E-Commerce JV (QIHU) :

Coolpad E-Commerce is a joint venture between the Company and Coolpad set up in December 2014 to focus on mobile terminal products that are distributed through Internet as the primary channel.

• Under the agreement, the joint venture will redeem a portion of the shares held by Coolpad in consideration of the joint venture transferring back to Coolpad certain Internet operating assets related to "Coolpad" branded smartphones that Coolpad had previously contributed to the joint venture. As a result, Coolpad's equity stake in the joint venture will be reduced to 25% from 50.5%, and the Company's equity stake in the joint venture will be increased to 75% from 49.5%
• The Company and Coolpad also agreed to closely cooperate in intellectual property sharing, supply chain management, product development, and app distribution to further strengthen the joint venture's capabilities in developing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing smartphones under the "QIKU" and "DAZEN" brands
• In connection with the new agreement reached with Coolpad, the Company has agreed that, upon the closing of the share redemption and full implementation of the new arrangement, the Company will not pursue the put option that it exercised on September 2, 2015 to require Coolpad to purchase the Company's entire 49.5% stake in the joint venture.  

9:23 am Aquinox Pharma presents additional exploratory analyses from its LEADERSHIP Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (AQXP) :

Pre-specified primary and secondary endpoint results from the LEADERSHIP trial were reported on June 25, 2015 and August 6, 2015, respectively.

• Additional LEADERSHIP data presented today included exploratory analyses of responder rates for average daily pain and maximum daily pain. Evaluating patients that achieved at least a 30% and 50% reduction in their pain demonstrated that AQX-1125 approximately doubled the response rate compared to those patients that received placebo for both average and maximum daily pain. Further analyses also revealed that the two components of the O'Leary-Sant Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index and the Problem Index (:ICPI) each individually demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in favor of AQX-1125 compared to placebo. 
• Data presented at ESSIC also included baseline demographic information demonstrating the trial to be well balanced between AQX-1125 and placebo groups in terms of age, duration of diagnosis, concomitant medications and baseline scores for both pain (11-point NRS) and urological symptoms (O'Leary-Sant ICSI/PI & BPIC-SS).

9:22 am Mirna Therapeutics (:MIRN) discloses terms for its pending IPO; plans to offer 4.65 mln shares between $13.00-15.00 (:IPOXX) :

Alongside its IPO, certain of Mirna's existing institutional investors, including investors affiliated with certain of its directors, have indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to ~$17 mln of shares of its common stock in this offering at the initial public offering price and on the same terms as the other purchasers in this offering. At the midpoint, the company would have a market cap of ~$234 mln.

• Mirna is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a broad pipeline of microRNA-based oncology therapeutics. They are developing mimics of naturally occurring microRNAs that are designed to restore this tumor suppressor activity and aid appropriate tumor immune response

9:18 am Parsley Energy prices its 13 mln share common stock offering, expecting gross proceeds of ~$195 mln (PE) : Proceeds from the offering are expected to be used to repay borrowings outstanding under the Company's revolving credit facility and to fund a portion of its capital program, which may include acquisitions

9:15 am Universal Health to acquire Foundations Recovery Network for ~$350 mln (UHS) : The co announced that it has reached a definitive agreement and received FTC approval to purchase Foundations Recovery Network for a purchase price of approximately $350 million. Through this acquisition, the co will add 322 residential beds in 4 facilities and 8 outpatient centers. In addition, there are over 140 expansion beds in the pipeline.

9:11 am Market View: Dec. eMini stock-index futures extend notable losses here, trading well below fair values & setting new pre-market lows in recent trade (:TECHX) :

• ESz5 -27.00
• NQz5 -58.00
• YMz5 -228

9:11 am S&P futures vs fair value: -30.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -60.50. (:WRAPX) :

The stock market is on track for a sharply lower open with S&P 500 futures trading 31 points below fair value.

Index futures held their ground through the Asian session, but slid to lows after European markets opened for the day. Since then, it has been a struggle for the futures market to find an area of support.

The retreat in futures has been accompanied by strength in the Treasury market, sending the 10-yr yield lower by six basis points to 2.16%. The benchmark note has made a quick turnaround during the past two days and its yield is now on track to end the week lower by three basis points.

This morning has been very quiet on the corporate front, but it is worth noting that Adobe Systems (ADBE 78.45, -1.86) is on course to open lower by 2.3% after cautious guidance overshadowed its bottom-line beat.

Today's economic data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of the Leading Indicators report for August (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%).

9:01 am Windstream adopts a shareholder rights plan to protect its valuable net operating loss carryforwards from the effect of limitations under the IRS code (WIN) :

As of June 30, 2015, Windstream had over $1.2 billion in NOLs, which can be used in certain circumstances to offset future taxable income and reduce federal income taxes. Windstream's ability to utilize these tax assets would be substantially limited if an "ownership change" (as defined under IRC Section 382) occurs.

• The purpose of the Rights Plan is to deter an ownership change from occurring under these technical rules, which will protect Windstream's ability to utilize its valuable NOLs and avoid a reduction in shareholder value that would occur from the NOLs becoming subject to limitations under IRC Section 382. 
• Under the Rights Plan, Windstream shareholders of record as of the close of business on September 28, 2015 will receive one preferred share purchase right for each share of common stock outstanding.

9:00 am Sientra prices its public offering of 3 mln shares at $22.00/share (SIEN) :  

9:00 am Hudson Pacific Properties announces that CFO Mark Lammas has taken on the additional responsibilities of Chief Operating Officer; Steve Jaffe joins as Chief Risk Officer (HPP) : In his expanded role, Lammas will be responsible for all finance, treasury and capital markets activities, as well as the firm's operations in its four primary markets. Prior to joining Hudson Pacific, Jaffe was Chief Investment Officer and Principal of BH Properties in Los Angeles, a private real estate investment company

8:59 am On the Wires (:WIRES) :

• OppenheimerFunds announced a strategic partnership in which Apollo Credit Management, which is an affiliate of Apollo Global Management (APO), will serve as sub-sub-advisor to the Oppenheimer Global Strategic Income Fund
• America First Multifamily Investors (ATAX) has completed the consent solicitation of its unitholders and has announced that all eight of its proposals were approved by ATAX's unitholders
• MFRI (MFRI) announced the election of David S. Barrie to the position of independent chairman.
• Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (FCEA) announced that it has completed the sale of its ownership interest in the Skylight Office Tower in downtown Cleveland to Hertz Acquisition Group. The transaction is expected to generate net proceeds after commissions and closing costs of ~$34.2 million.
• The Illinois Commerce Commission announced that Dynegy (DYN) was one of the winning suppliers of the Illinois Power Agency's MISO Zone 4 capacity procurement event. The capacity procured in the process was for planning year 2016/2017 at a weighted average price of $138.12 per MW-Day. Total capacity to be provided by the winning suppliers is 1,033 MWs.
• Vale S.A. (VALE) announced the conclusion of the issuance of local infrastructure debentures. Initially, Vale expected to raise R$ 1 billion, but decided to increase the issuance to R$ 1.35 billion given the demand for the debentures. Updates of nominal debenture values will be based on inflation and will bear annual interest, priced at IPCA + 6.6232%p.a. and IPCA + 6.6252% p.a., for maturity dates in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

8:57 am S&P futures vs fair value: -22.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -45.50. (:WRAPX) :

The S&P 500 futures trade 23 points below fair value.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on Friday, getting a bump from the Federal Reserve's decision to leave the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged and word that home prices in China increased for the fourth straight month. Japan (-2.0%) was the notable exception, as it fell sharply with a stronger yen pressuring its performance.

• In economic data:
  • China's August House Prices +0.3% month-over-month (prior +0.3%); -2.3% year-over-year (prior -3.7%)
  • South Korea's August PPI -0.5% month-over-month (prior -0.4%); -4.4% year-over-year (prior -4.0%)

------

• Japan's Nikkei declined 2.0% and closed on its lows for the session. A stronger yen reportedly contributed to the selling pressure as export-oriented stocks were on the defensive. Pacing the retreat were the financials (-3.4%), industrials (-2.8%), and materials (-2.8%) sectors. Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings (-6.4%), Dia-ichi Life Insurance Co (-6.2%), and JFE Holdings (-5.4%) were the worst-performing issues. KDDI Corp (+4.4%), Pioneer Corp (+3.7%), and Seven & I Holdings (+1.8%) led a small group of winners. Out of the 225 index members, 11 ended higher, 213 finished lower, and 1 was unchanged. For the week the Nikkei declined 1.1%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased 0.3%, following form with the mainland market. Friday's top-performing issues were Sands China (+5.8%), Cheung Kong Property Holdings (+4.7%), and Galaxy Entertainment Group (+4.1%). Downside leaders were China Resources Enterprise (-48.3%), Lenovo Group (-2.4%), and HSBC Holdings (-1.3%). Out of the 50 index members, 33 ended higher, 13 finished lower, and 4 were unchanged. For the week the Hang Seng increased 1.9%.
• China's Shanghai Composite increased 0.4%, aided by a report showing the fourth straight monthly gain in home prices and a deceleration in the pace of decline on a year-over-year basis. For the week the Shanghai Composite declined 3.2%.

Major European indices trade sharply lower across the board with Germany's DAX (-2.9%) showing relative weakness.

• Economic data was limited:
  • Eurozone July Current Account surplus narrowed to EUR22.60 billion from EUR24.90 billion (expected surplus of EUR21.30 billion)

------

• UK's FTSE is lower by 1.6% with financials showing relative weakness. Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered, Standard Life, and Barclays show losses between 2.6% and 3.0%. Meanwhile, miners outperform with Fresnillo and Randgold Resources up 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively.
• In France, the CAC has given up 2.7% amid broad weakness. Exporters and financials have paced the decline with Renault, Peugeot, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale down between 3.4% and 4.1%.
• Germany's DAX trades down 2.9% with all but one component in the red. Heavyweights Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, and Deutsche Bank are down between 3.0% and 4.4% while Adidas has added 1.0%.

8:30 am NRG Yield to acquire 75% of a portfolio of wind assets from NRG (NRG) for $210 mln; reaffirms Q3 and FY15 guidance (NYLD) :

Co has entered into an agreement with NRG (NRG) to acquire 75% of the equity interests in a portfolio of wind projects consisting primarily of assets acquired by NRG from Edison Mission Energy in April 2014 for $210 million in total cash consideration, plus assumed project debt of ~$145 million and tax equity of ~$97 million.

• The EME Wind Portfolio includes assets representing ~ 814 net megawatts (MW) of total operating capacity. The Company expects these assets to deliver approximately $41 million of Adjusted EBITDA and $21 million of cash available for distribution on a run-rate basis and provide incremental geographical and counterparty diversification. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
• The Company is also reaffirming third quarter and full year guidance for 2015 and continues to have the ability to deliver a target 15% dividend per share growth through 2018
• Both NRG Yield and NRG have a joint conference call scheduled for 9 AM ET this morning

8:30 am Summit Therapeutics to present new preclinical data on SMT19969 at the 55th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (SMMT) : The data being presented are from preclinical in vitro studies that provide further evidence to support SMT19969's profile as a potential treatment for CDI and ability to reduce the high rates of recurrence currently associated with the disease. SMT19969 was shown to have high potency against 107 clinical isolates of C. difficile selected to maximise the diversity of their resistance to common classes of antibiotics, and SMT19969 also continues to display a low resistance development profile.

8:26 am European Markets Update: FTSE -1.4%, CAC -2.5%, DAX -2.8% (:SUMRX) :

Major European indices trade lower across the board with Germany's DAX (-2.8%) showing relative weakness.

• Economic data was limited:
  • Eurozone July Current Account surplus narrowed to EUR22.60 billion from EUR24.90 billion (expected surplus of EUR21.30 billion)

------

• UK's FTSE is lower by 1.4% with financials showing relative weakness. Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered, Standard Life, and Barclays show losses between 2.6% and 3.0%. Meanwhile, miners outperform with Fresnillo and Randgold Resources up 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively.
• In France, the CAC has given up 2.5% amid broad weakness. Exporters and financials have paced the decline with Renault, Peugeot, BNP Paribas, and Societe Generale down between 3.4% and 4.1%.
• Germany's DAX trades down 2.8% with all but one component in the red. Heavyweights Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen, and Deutsche Bank are down between 3.0% and 4.4% while Adidas has added 1.0%.

8:26 am On the Wires (:WIRES) :

• St. Jude Medical (STJ) announced the European CE Mark approval for the 27mm and 29mm Portico Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement System
• The Home Depot (HD) announced the company will officially open its third and largest of three new direct fulfillment centers to support the continued growth of its online sales- which now account for ~five percent of total revenues. The new 1.6 million square foot facility is located in Troy Township, Ohio.

8:25 am S&P futures vs fair value: -23.70. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -48.00. (:WRAPX) :

U.S. equity futures remain near their recently-established lows with S&P 500 futures trading 24 points below fair value.

The Federal Reserve did not rock the policy boat yesterday, but that has not stopped the futures market from retreating this morning. The slide has taken place amid selling in Europe with the key indices there showing losses between 1.3% and 2.7%.

Meanwhile, Treasuries have continued yesterday's advance, climbing to new highs for the week with the 10-yr yield down six basis points at 2.16% at this juncture.

8:20 am Gapping up (SCANX) : Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: ADBE -2.2%

Select fan favs trading lower: NFLX -1.7%, GPRO -1.4%, FIT -1.2%, TSLA -1.2%, AAPL -0.9%, TWTR -0.9%, FB -0.8%

Select financial related names showing weakness: DB -2.6%, ING -2.5%, CS -2.2%, RBS -1.7%, HSBC -1.5%, SAN -1.4%, BCS -1.2%, WFC -0.9%

Select EU names stocks trading lower: TEF -2.7%, CRH -1.8%, SAP -1.6%, RCL -1.4%, GSK -1.4%, ABB -1.2%

Select oil/gas related names showing early weakness: PE -8.4%, WLL -2.6%, TOT -2.4%, SDRL -1.9%, RDS.A -1.8%

Other news: LQ -10.5% (revising its 2015 financial guidance as a result of weaker than anticipated hotel demand ; announces that President and CEO Wayne Goldberg has stepped down; accelerates its share repurchase program; approves a program to repurchase up to $100 million of its common stock, effective immediately ), BUD -2.4% (pulling back after recent strength), AI -1.9% (reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.625/share from $0.875/share), ITCI -1.7% (following 10 pt move higher yesterday), MTGE -1.1% (lowers quarterly dividend to $0.40/share from $0.50/share, says it repurchased 1.2 mln shares in Q3 )

Analyst comments: LXRX -4.6% (downgraded to Sell at Gabelli & Co), SFY -4.5% (downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts)

8:16 am Brown & Brown realigns its Retail Division (BRO) :

Brown & Brown believes the new structure will be more responsive in providing robust solutions for our customers and more effective in advancing sales in the face of sustained rate pressure in the property and casualty insurance markets.

• Brown & Brown's Retail Division will continue to operate as one division but, effective immediately, it will have six distinct regions under the direction of Brown & Brown's President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Powell Brown. As part of this new alignment, Richard A. Knudson, Jr., Thomas K. Huval, Anthony M. Grippa, Steve Denton and P. Barrett Brown, all of whom currently serve as Senior Vice Presidents in Brown & Brown's Retail Division, will join Charles H. Lydecker as Regional Presidents and will have oversight responsibility for the newly created regions. In his new role as Regional President, Mr. Lydecker, who previously served as President of the Retail Division, will continue to report directly to Powell Brown and will retain primary responsibility for Brown & Brown's Retail Division offices throughout Florida and the west coast of the United States. Mr. Lydecker will also continue to devote his efforts in enhancing his proven track record of recruitment and development of sales producers throughout the Retail Division.

8:14 am InterCloud Systems awarded over $1.2 mln in contracts for leading edge data networking at a New York State Government agency and recurring maintenance services for a long term enterprise customer (ICLD) : A majority of the work on these projects is expected to be completed between Q3 and Q4 of 2015.

8:12 am Gapping up (SCANX) :

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: PDEX +14.1%, AKS +8.2%, ZAYO +2.8%, KUTV +2.7%

Select metals and miners showing strength: HMY +8.6%, AU +3.5%, GFI +2.9%, SLW +1.8%, GOLD +1.6%, AG +1.6%, GG +1.1%, SLV +1%, ABX +1%, NEM +1%

Other news: SFXE +19.7% (cont strength after co secured $60 mln in new financing and refinances its existing $30 mln revolving credit facility yesterday),VBLT +15.7% (announces that complete Phase 2 data on VB-111, in combination with Bevacizumab will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology's (:ESMO) European Cancer Congress ),MTL +4.9% (still checking),SFUN +4.3% (announces a $400 to $700 mln investment from IDG, Carlyle and management members),RXDX +1.5% (announces initiation of Phase 1/1b clinical trial of RXDX-107 in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors ),KGC +1.2% (lowered guidance for all-in sustaining cost per gold equivalent ounce sold to $975-1025 from $1000-1100; lowers CapEx guidance to $650 mln from $725 mln),ARW +0.7% (announced authorization for an additional $400 million in repurchases, via its common share repurchase program)

Analyst comments: CEMP +3.6% (announces the FDA has granted qualified infectious disease product designation to Taksta),GSBD +0.7% (upgraded to Outperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)

8:08 am PTC Therapeutics announces that Health Canada has initiated their review of its New Drug Submission for Translarna to treat nonsense mutation dystrophinopathy (PTCT) : The NDS will be reviewed with advance consideration under the Health Canada policy of Notice of Compliance with Conditions

8:02 am S&P futures vs fair value: -23.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -46.70. (:WRAPX) :

U.S. equity futures trade sharply lower after sliding to these levels alongside European indices. The S&P 500 futures hover 23 points below fair value after hitting their lows within the past hour.

Meanwhile, Treasuries hold solid gains with the 10-yr yield down six basis points at 2.16%.

Today's economic data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of the Leading Indicators report for August (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%).

In U.S. corporate news of note:

• Adobe Systems (ADBE 78.51, -1.80): -2.2% after cautious guidance overshadowed its bottom-line beat.
• La Quinta Holdings (LQ 16.98, -1.99): -10.5% after the company lowered its guidance and announced the departure of Chief Executive Officer Wayne Goldberg

Reviewing overnight developments:

• Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei -2.0%, China's Shanghai Composite +0.4%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.3%.
  • In economic data:
    • China's August House Prices +0.3% month-over-month (prior +0.3%); -2.3% year-over-year (prior -3.7%)
    • South Korea's August PPI -0.5% month-over-month (prior -0.4%); -4.4% year-over-year (prior -4.0%)
  • In news:
    • The increase in China's house prices represented the third consecutive monthly increase for the top 70 cities

• Major European indices trade lower. Germany's DAX -2.8%, France's CAC -2.4%, and UK's FTSE -1.3%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB -2.0% and Spain's IBEX -2.1%
  • Economic data was limited:
    • Eurozone July Current Account surplus narrowed to EUR22.60 billion from EUR24.90 billion (expected surplus of EUR21.30 billion)
  • Among news of note:
    • The euro/dollar exchange rate has held its ground despite the weakness in European markets. Currently, the currency pair trades near 1.1430

8:02 am FMC Tech confirms it was awarded a new EPC contract with Statoil (STO) where Phase 1 of the Johan Sverdrup field is the first call-off; contract has an estimated value of $172 mln (FTI) : A frame agreement for add-on systems and a frame agreement for subsea service offerings have also been signed.

8:01 am Johnson Controls to reduce its global salaried workforce by 2.5%, or up to ~3k personnel; says is targeting $250 mln in annual cost savings (JCI) :  These actions will occur over the next two years. 

8:01 am Ashford to merge with Remington Holdings (AINC) :

• Co announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination with Remington Holdings, LP.
• The transaction is expected to be completed in Q1 of 2016, and is subject to receiving an acceptable private letter ruling from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the Co's stockholders' approval, receipt of certain tax opinions, satisfaction of other tax related conditions, and other customary closing conditions.
• The transaction is being structured as a Section 351 tax-free exchange for federal income tax purposes.
• Ashford is creating a new subsidiary structure that will acquire an 80% stake in Remington and all of Ashford's existing business.
• The Remington sellers will retain a 20% interest in Remington.
• Approximately 3% of the consideration delivered to the Remington sellers, or $10 mln, will be paid in cash in equal quarterly installments of $625,000.
• Ashford's new subsidiary will issue $230 mln of participating convertible preferred securities with a dividend rate of 6.625% with a conversion premium 85% above yesterday's Ashford common stock price and 916,500 shares of its nonvoting common stock (assuming a $100 stock price -- 54% above yesterday's Ashford common stock price) to the Remington sellers.
• Ashford will retain 100% of the subsidiary's voting common stock

8:01 am Seaspan accepts delivery of a 10000 TEU containership, will begin time charter with Maersk Line (SSW) : Co announces that it accepted delivery of a 10000 TEU containership, the Maersk Guayaquil. The new containership is Seaspan's eighth 10000 TEU SAVER design containership and seventh delivery in 2015. The Maersk Guayaquil will commence a five-year, fixed-rate time charter with Maersk Line

8:01 am Heron Therapeutics announces FDA acceptance of new drug application for SUSTOL; FDA assigns PDUFA goal date of January 17, 2016 (HRTX) : FDA has accepted for review Heron's NDA resubmission for SUSTOL (granisetron) Injection, extended release, for the prevention of acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic chemotherapy or highly emetogenic chemotherapy (:HEC) regimens.

8:01 am AdCare Health Systems completes operations transfer on two facilities and extends leases on eight additional facilities (ADK) :

• Co announced continued progress in its efforts to increase the value of its portfolio of healthcare properties.
• AdCare has negotiated extensions to leases for a total of 12 facilities, including eight in the last month, providing tenants with longer leases typically in return for increased annual rent escalators. As a result, nearly all of AdCare's leases have initial terms of 10 years or longer with an average, annual escalator of ~2.5%.

8:00 am Versartis announces additional data from its ongoing extension study of Somavaratan in pre-pubertal GHD children: 3.5 mg/kg twice-monthly dosing increased mean peak IGF-I SDS (VSAR) :

The complete 18-month data will be presented at a late-breaker poster presentation at the upcoming 54th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology.

• Data showed that Increasing the twice-monthly dose of somavaratan from 2.5 mg/kg to 3.5 mg/kg increased mean peak IGF-I SDS from -0.30 1.2 to 0.32 1.6.
• Mean height velocity (:HV) was 7.9 2.1 and 8.5 2.1 cm/year for 5 mg/kg monthly and 2.5 mg/kg twice-monthly dosing after 12 months, respectively.
  • Upon switching to the 3.5 mg/kg twice-monthly dose the mean (annualized) 12-18 month HV was 8.1 2.4 and 8.3 1.8 cm/year for each dose group, respectively.
• The Extension Study continued to show that somavaratan is well tolerated and that the safety profile at the 3.5 mg/kg Phase 3 dose is comparable to daily growth hormone therapy. More specifically, the number of adverse events declined over the 12 to 18-month period of therapy and there were no unexpected or serious adverse events. The few events noted were mild and transient.

8:00 am Perficient acquires Market Street Solutions for ~$5.3 mln; acquisition is expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings per share immediately (PRFT) :

• Co announces it has acquired Market Street Solutions a $10 mln annual services and software revenue IT consulting firm.  
• Total consideration to be paid at closing will be ~$5.3 mln, consisting of ~$4.1 mln in cash and ~$1.2 mln in Perficient common stock
• The acquisition is expected to be accretive to adjusted EPS immediately.
  

7:58 am Beacon Roofing Supply announces a private offering of $300 million of senior notes due 2023- in connection with its acquisition of Roofing Supply Group (BECN) :  

7:57 am On the Wires (:WIRES) :

• Mylan N.V. (MYL) announced the U.S. launch of Fluvastatin Sodium Extended-release Tablets, 80 mg, which is the generic version of Novartis' (NVS) Lescol XL Tablets
• FLY Leasing Limited (FLY) announced that it has contracted to sell 12 older aircraft from its portfolio for $240 million. The sale is anticipated to produce a $12 million pre-tax gain. In connection with the transaction, FLY anticipates recording $3 million in non-cash charges relating to debt modification and extinguishment costs. Separately, FLY completed a sale of a 22-year-old B747-400 aircraft earlier this month.

7:46 am Equity futures down 1.5% vs. fair value: Stocks also notably lower in Europe after Fed pushes out rate hike expectations (SPY) :

• Stoxx Europe 600 -1.7%, FTSE 100 -1.2%, DAX -2.8%
• Nikkei -2%; Shanghai +0.4%

7:43 am Infinity Pharmaceutical presents IPI-549 pre-clinical data, demonstrating the potential of IPI-549 to disrupt the immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment and enable a heightened immune response (INFI) :

Co announced the expansion of its pipeline with the addition of IPI-549. Preclinical data demonstrating the potential of IPI-549 to disrupt the immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment and enable a heightened anti-tumor immune response are being presented today at The Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference.

• In vitro data showed that IPI-549 blocks both the migration of murine myeloid cells and the differentiation of myeloid cells to the M2 phenotype, which is a type of myeloid cell known to promote cancer growth and suppress anti-tumor immune responses. In vivo data in murine solid tumor models demonstrated that IPI-549 treatment also decreased tumor-associated myeloid cells found in the immune suppressive microenvironment. Additionally, IPI-549 treatment increased the number of intratumoral CD8+ T-cells, which are known to play a role in inhibiting tumor growth.
• IPI-549 demonstrated dose-dependent, single-agent, anti-tumor activity in multiple solid tumor models, including murine models of lung, colon and breast cancer. Additionally, mice treated with IPI-549 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors showed greater tumor growth inhibition than either treatment as a monotherapy. Preclinical in vivo data also demonstrated that T-cells are required for the anti-tumor activity of IPI-549, which is a hallmark of immunotherapy.

7:39 am Freeport-McMoRan completes its $1 bln ATM common stock offering, announces filing of prospectus to sell an additional $1 bln in ATM sales of common stock; provides update on strategic actions (FCX) :

FCX intends to use the net proceeds from these offerings for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, the repayment of amounts outstanding under its revolvingcredit facility and other borrowings and the financing of working capital and capital expenditures.

• The co also announced that it continues to engage in discussions to partner with strategic investors interested in investing capital in the development of its oil and gas properties and to consider the previously announced potential initial public offering of a minority interest in Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas (FMOG) as market conditions warrant. These actions, together with previously announced capital cost revisions, are being pursued as required to fund oil and gas capital spending within cash flow for 2016 and subsequent years. 

7:38 am Rockwell Collins guides FY16 below consensus due to weakness in business aviation market; reaffirms FY15 guidance (COL) :

• Co reaffirms guidance for FY15 (Sep), sees EPS of $5.15-5.25, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $5.21 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY15 (Sep) revs of $5.25-5.30 bln vs. $5.27 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues downside guidance for FY16 (Sep), sees EPS of $5.20-5.40, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $5.45 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY16 (Sep) revs of $5.3-5.4 bln vs. $5.44 bln Capital IQ Consensus. 
• "As we look to fiscal year 2016, our guidance for our Government Systems, Information Management Services, and Air Transport businesses are all in-line with our long term outlook."
• "However, this is not the case in business aviation where we continue to experience weak market conditions. At this time, we don't expect to see these conditions improve significantly in the next year so we are re-setting our near-term expectations for that business... we now expect our overall Business and Regional jet OEM sales to decrease low-double digits from fiscal year 2015. In addition, we expect Business and Regional jet aftermarket sales to continue growing at a fairly modest level, similar to what we've seen in fiscal year 2015."

7:33 am Celsus Therapeutics completes acquisition of Volution Immuno Pharmaceuticals; combined co to become Akari Therapeutics and trade as AKTX starting September 21 (CLTX) :

Akari will focus on development and commercialization of life-transforming treatments for a range of rare and orphan autoimmune and inflammatory diseases caused by dysregulation of complement C5, including paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (:PNH) and atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

• Following the closing of the acquisition, Akari expects to close  the previously announced $75 million private placement entered into with a select group of investors, led by Deerfield, and including Venrock, Vivo Capital, Foresite Capital, New Enterprise Associates, QVT Financial, RA Capital Management and certain other institutional investors. The private placement values the combined entity at $150 million on a fully diluted basis prior to the completion of the private placement. The private placement is expected to close on or about September 18, 2015.

7:31 am Antero Midstream Partners to acquire Antero Resources (AR) integrated water business for an aggregate $1.05 bln, raises FY15 EBITDA guidance, announces $243 mln private placement (AM) :

Co has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Antero Resources Corporation's (AR) integrated water business for an aggregate $1.05 billion in a combination of cash, assumed debt and Partnership common units.

• In addition to the initial payment, Antero Resources is entitled to receive two potential $125 million earn out payments at year-end 2019 and 2020 if certain fresh water volumetric delivery targets are met. As consideration for the acquisition, the Partnership has agreed to pay Antero Resources a cash distribution equal to $552 million, less any assumed debt, and issue 23,886,421 common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership.
• The Partnership's credit facility capacity will be increased by $500 million to a total of $1.5 billion in conjunction with the completion of this transaction.
• Also related to financing of the transaction,on September 17, 2015, the Partnership priced the private placement of 12,898,000 common units for gross proceeds of approximately $243 million. Upon completion of the private placement, the total cash and unit consideration paid by the Partnership to Antero Resources will be $794 million and 10,988,421 common units.
• In conjunction with the acquisition of the fresh water delivery business, Antero Midstream will enter into a 20-year water services agreement covering Antero Resources' 534,000 net acres in West Virginia and Ohio, with a right of first offer on all future areas of operation. Under the agreement, Antero Midstream will receive a fixed fee of $3.69 per barrel in West Virginia and $3.64 per barrel in Ohio for fresh water deliveries by pipeline directly to the well site, subject to annual CPI adjustments.
• Additionally, the transaction includes a total of $250 million of potential earn out payments to be paid to Antero Resources at the end of 2019 and 2020, contingent on meeting specific average volume thresholds.
• Driven by the drop down acquisition, the Partnership is raising 2015 EBITDA guidance to a range of $170 to $180 million from the previous range of $150 to $160 million. Distributable cash flow is expected to be $150 to $160 million in 2015 versus prior guidance of $135 to $145 million. Additionally, the Partnership is maintaining capital expenditure guidance of $425 to $450 million as capital reductions on gathering projects offsets anticipated capital investments in the water business for the remainder of 2015.

7:10 am Zayo Group Holdings reports Q4 (Jun) results, revs in-line; amends insider restrictions (ZAYO) :

• Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.02 per share (:GAAP), including items, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 6.2% year/year to $361.9 mln vs the $361.08 mln consensus. 
• The primary drivers of the increase in net income were quarter-over-quarter reduction to loss on debt extinguishments of $46.4 million, a decrease to the Company's foreign currency loss on intercompany loans of $30.0 million and positive net installations. Offsetting these increases to net income was a $23.0 million increase to the Company's provision for income taxes. Fourth fiscal quarter results and growth include the full quarter impact of the Latisys acquisition.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $210.9 million increased 24% YoY; operating income for the quarter decreased $2.0 million.
• Co amends and extends the transfer restrictions under the Stockholders Agreement dated as of Oct 22, 2014.
  • Holders of ~177 million shares of Zayo common stock are subject to the Stockholders Agreement, as amended. The transfer restriction provisions of the original agreement were scheduled to expire on October 23, 2015.
  • The amendment extends the transfer restrictions for an additional year and provides for periodic partial releases beginning with the immediate release of ~21 million shares followed by graduated periodic releases of restrictions between November 15, 2015 and the final transfer restriction release date of October 23, 2016.
  • Permitted transfers during the restriction period were also expanded by the amendment and now include distributions to limited partners and sales through certain coordinated block trades, in addition to registered public offerings pursuant to the original agreement.

7:01 am Silver Standard reports the discovery of a higher grade mineralized area at its Marigold Mine (SSRI) :

Co announced the discovery of a new gold mineralized area at its Marigold mine in Nevada, U.S. referred to as the HideOut area.

• Drillhole MR-6170 intersected 2.47 g/t gold over 76.2 meters from 152.4 meters below surface, including 5.44 g/t gold over 30.5 meters from 161.5 meters below surface.
• Drillhole MR-6149 intersected 2.05 g/t gold over 33.5 meters from 175.3 meters below surface, including 4.31 g/t gold over 13.7 meters from 189.0 meters below surface.
• Drillhole MR-6159 intersected 1.91 g/t gold over 54.9 meters from 121.9 meters below surface, including 2.91 g/t gold over 32.0 meters from 128.0 meters below surface.

7:00 am Cempra granted a qualified infectious disease product designation by the FDA for its investigational antibiotic product candidate, Taksta (CEMP) : The designation is for Taksta oral tablets for the indication of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections

7:00 am PowerSecure reports a federal court's dismissal of its securities class action Lawsuit (POWR) : Co announced that a US District Court has granted the company's motion to dismiss the purported securities class action lawsuit filed against it and certain of its executive officers. The amended complaint alleged that certain statements made by the defendants during the purported class period from August 8, 2013 through May 7, 2014 violated federal securities laws. The federal court has given the plaintiff until October 16, 2015 to file an amended complaint. The company and other defendants will continue to vigorously defend against any such further proceedings.

7:00 am Tracon Pharmaceuticals reports ongoing complete response in Choriocarcinoma patient treated with company's TRC105 in compassionate use Phase 2 trial; Beta human chorionic gonadotropin normalized during the fourth cycle of treatment (TCON) :

• The single patient compassionate use Phase 2 clinical trial enrolled a 37-year old woman with persistent and unresectable metastatic choriocarcinoma, an aggressive form of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.
• Results represent second orphan tumor type where durable complete responses observed with TRC105 combination treatment.
  
• As of the time of the presentation, the patient had completed 7 cycles (28 weeks) of treatment. Beta human chorionic gonadotropin (-hCG), a known, reliable marker of disease burden in choriocarcinoma, normalized during the fourth cycle of treatment, decreasing from greater than 3,000 IU/L at treatment initiation to less than 1 IU/L from cycles 4 through 7, indicating an ongoing complete response.
  

6:57 am Asian Markets Close: Japan's Nikkei -2.0%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.3%; China's Shanghai Composite +0.4% (:SUMRX) :

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on Friday, getting a bump from the Federal Reserve's decision to leave the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged and word that home prices in China increased for the fourth straight month. Japan (-2.0%) was the notable exception, as it fell sharply with a stronger yen pressuring its performance.

Economic data

• China
  • August House Prices +0.3% month-over-month (prior +0.3%); -2.3% year-over-year (prior -3.7%)
• South Korea
  • August PPI -0.5% month-over-month (prior -0.4%); -4.4% year-over-year (prior -4.0%)

Equity Markets

• Japan's Nikkei declined 2.0% and closed on its lows for the session. A stronger yen reportedly contributed to the selling pressure as export-oriented stocks were on the defensive. Pacing the retreat were the financials (-3.4%), industrials (-2.8%), and materials (-2.8%) sectors. Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdings (-6.4%), Dia-ichi Life Insurance Co (-6.2%), and JFE Holdings (-5.4%) were the worst-performing issues. KDDI Corp (+4.4%), Pioneer Corp (+3.7%), and Seven & I Holdings (+1.8%) led a small group of winners. Out of the 225 index members, 11 ended higher, 213 finished lower, and 1 was unchanged. For the week the Nikkei declined 1.1%.
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng increased 0.3%, following form with the mainland market. Friday's top-performing issues were Sands China (+5.8%), Cheung Kong Property Holdings (+4.7%), and Galaxy Entertainment Group (+4.1%). Downside leaders were China Resources Enterprise (-48.3%), Lenovo Group (-2.4%), and HSBC Holdings (-1.3%). Out of the 50 index members, 33 ended higher, 13 finished lower, and 4 were unchanged. For the week the Hang Seng increased 1.9%.
• China's Shanghai Composite increased 0.4%, aided by a report showing the fourth straight monthly gain in home prices and a deceleration in the pace of decline on a year-over-year basis. For the week the Shanghai Composite declined 3.2%.
• India's Sensex increased 1.0% after being closed for a holiday on Thursday. The gain was driven by the energy (+2.2%) and financials (+2.0%) sectors. Axis Bank (+4.7%), Oil & Natural Gas Co. (+3.8%), and Sun Pharmaceuticals (+3.1%) were the best-performing issues while Bajaj Auto (-3.3%), Hindalco Industries (-2.3%), and Cipla Ltd (-1.8%) brought up the rear. Out of the 30 index members, 17 ended higher and 13 finished lower. For the week the Sensex increased 2.4%.
• Australia's S&P/ASX 200 increased 0.5%, helped by leadership from the gold and banking stocks. Out of the 200 index members, 122 ended higher, 62 finished lower, and 16 were unchanged. For the week the S&P/ASX 200 increased 2.0%.
• Regional advancers: South Korea +0.8%, Taiwan +0.2%, Indonesia +0.04%, Vietnam +0.7%, Philippines +0.1%
• Regional decliners: Malaysia -0.7%, Singapore -0.6%, Thailand -0.1%

FX

• USD/CNY -0.02% at 6.3643
• USD/INR -0.9% at 65.8450
• USD/JPY -0.7% at 119.70

6:29 am SouFun Holdings announces a $400 to $700 mln investment from IDG, Carlyle and management members (SFUN) :

Co entered into a subscription agreement with IDG Capital Partners and a subscription agreement with Safari Group Holdings Limited and Safari Group CB Holdings Limited, which are beneficially owned by Carlyle Group (CG).

• IDG, Carlyle and the management (mainly founder and CEO Vincent Mo) will invest a total amount between $400 million and $700 million (of which 50% will be convertible notes) to purchase SouFun's newly issued Class A ordinary shares and convertible notes pursuant to the Subscription Agreements.
• Under the Subscription Agreements, the subscription price of the new Class A ordinary shares is $5.85 per current ADS

6:24 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Statoil (STO)announced that on behalf of the Johan Sverdrup partnership, it has awarded anEPC contract for subsea equipment for the Johan Sverdrup project to FMCKongsberg Subsea AS (FTI). The contract involves establishment of a new andcost efficient standard for subsea equipment. The contract has an estimated value of NOK1.3 billion, and includes deliveries of 13 Subsea trees and well heads, inaddition to three subsea templates and control systems.
• Orange (ORAN) announced it has chosen toinvest in a new Low Power Wide Area1 network, a narrow-band technology whichguarantees connectivity at a reduced energy consumption rate and at a lowercost.
• Quicksilver Resources (KWKAQ) announced the commencement of a marketing and sale process tosell substantially all or a portion of its U.S. and Canadian assets. The U.S.process was initiated with the filing of a motion with the United StatesBankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking approval of bidding procedures to commence a sales process for Quicksilver and its U.S. subsidiaries under section 363 of theBankruptcy Code.
• InterOil Corporation's (IOC) Triceratops-3 appraisal well in Petroleum Retention License 39in Papua New Guinea hasflowed gas at 17.1 million standard cubic feet a day and condensate at an average of 200.3barrels a day.

6:21 am Arris: Pace plc lowers FY15 revenue guidance, provides update on combination with ARRS, which it continues to expect to close late the year (ARRS) :

Pace plc provided the following update: The recommended combination with ARRIS Group continues to progress in-line with expectations and, subject to the satisfaction, or where relevant, waiver, of all relevant conditions, the transaction is expected to close in late 2015:

• The merger control process is underway in all relevant jurisdictions (Brazil, Colombia, Portugal and the United States), with approval received from the German and South African authorities. In the United States ARRIS and Pace are responding to a second request and currently expect that the review of the Combination will be concluded by or before the middle of December 2015
• The Form S-4 Registration Statement is effective and the ARRIS Special Meeting to vote on the Combination is expected to be held on 21 October 2015
• The Scheme Circular is expected to be posted to Pace shareholders soon and the Pace General Meeting to vote on the Combination is expected to be held on 22 October 2015.

Due to continuing challenging economic conditions in certain regions, phasing delays at major customers in North America and delayed decisions by customers, current forecasts indicate that revenue growth will be slightly lower than previously expected. However, due to an improved product mix, improving supply chain effectiveness and increased operational efficiencies, the Group expects no change to previously communicated profitability and cash flow for the year.

• The co now expects FY15 revenue of c. $2.55 bln vs. prior guidance of $2.65-2.72 bln. 2014 revenue was $2.62 bln
• Adjusted EBITDA guidance remains unchanged at c. $255 mln
• FCF guidance unchanged at a range of $185-195 mln

6:00 am Siliconware Precision: Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX) announces the satisfaction of the minimum condition of its tender offer for SPIL shares (SPIL) :

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX) announces that as of 10 a.m. Taiwan time, the number of Common Shares tendered in the ROC Offer has reached 156,546,720, exceeding 155,818,056 Common Shares, which satisfied the minimum condition of the ROC Offer and the US Offer.

• As the minimum condition has been satisfied, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the ROC Offer and the U.S. Offer, ASE will pay NT$45 per Common Share and NT$225 per ADS payable in the equivalent amount of U.S. dollars on or before September 30, 2015.
• The ROC Offer will expire at 3:30 p.m. on September 22, 2015, Taiwan time.

5:56 am Tribune Publishing issues statement from its Board on the future of Tribune Publishing's California News Group, reaffirming its commitment to its five-point transformation plan (TPUB) :

The co noted:

• "We are fully committed to our five-point transformation plan to create value for all shareholders and stakeholders alike, which we launched last year when Tribune Publishing became a publicly traded company. Our California News Group, which includes the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, is a cornerstone of our Company's portfolio and a key component to our success in the future. Tribune Publishing is deeply committed to these world-class institutions, the communities of Southern California and all the other markets in which we operate. We affirm our confidence in the ability of Jack Griffin, Chief Executive Officer; Tim Ryan, Publisher & CEO of the California News Group; and the entire management team to execute our strategy, drive great journalism and create engaging and rewarding experiences for readers and marketing partners."

5:53 am Southwest Air confirms a new tentative agreement with the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association (LUV) : Union Leaders will communicate with Pilots over the next few weeks to share the details and terms of the agreement. The ratification vote will close November 4. If Pilots approve the deal, the contract will become amendable April 1, 2019. Southwest employs more than 8,000 Pilots.

5:53 am S&P futures vs fair value: -5.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -13.50. :

5:53 am European Markets : FTSE...6160.59...-26.40...-0.40%.  DAX...10025.93...-202.10...-2.00%.

5:53 am Asian Markets : Nikkei...18070.21...-362.10...-2.00%.  Hang Seng...21920.83...+66.20...+0.30%.

5:50 am Penumbra (NYSE: PEN) priced its upsized 4 mln share IPO at $30.00/share, above the expected $25.00-$28.00 range (PEN) : The offering was upsized from original plans to offer 3.8 mln shares.

5:41 am Exelon and Pepco Hldgs (POM) reaffirmed they will continue to pursue their merger (EXC) : "Pepco Holdings and Exelon said they welcome further discussion with District leaders about how the merger can best address the needs of D.C. families and businesses. Other states with jurisdiction over the merger - Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia - have approved it."

5:31 am China Techfaith Wireless receives NASDAQ notification of minimum bid price requirement (CNTF) :  

4:43 am McKesson to acquire the pharmaceutical distribution division of UDG Healthcare plc for 408 million in cash (MCK) :

Co announced an agreement to purchase the pharmaceutical distribution division of UDG Healthcare based in Northern Ireland (United Drug Sangers) and the Republic of Ireland.

• Under the terms of the agreement McKesson will acquire: United Drug and United Drug Sangers, leading wholesale operations across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; TCP, a leading home healthcare provider in the Republic of Ireland; and MASTA, UDG's travel healthcare business based in the United Kingdom. 
• The transaction is subject to UDG shareholder approval and EU competition clearance, among other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of calendar year 2016

4:22 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Power Integrations (POWI) announced the InnoSwitch-EP family of off-line CV/CC flyback switching ICs. Featuring an integrated 725 V MOSFET, synchronous rectification and precise secondary-side feedback sensing control, the new IC family delivers excellent multi-output cross-regulation with full line protection and instantaneous transient response with less than 10mW no load consumption.
• ZTE Corporation (ZTCOF) announced the signing of a cooperation agreement on TD-LTE technology with China Mobile Research Institute and South Korea's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning

4:14 am Novartis receives Swissmedic approval for Entresto (NVS) :

Novartis announced that Swissmedic has approved Entresto, previously known as LCZ696, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

• Entresto will be available on prescription for adult patients whose condition is classified NYHA class II-IV and with an ejection fraction of 40% or less. It is administered in combination with other heart failure therapies as appropriate, in place of an ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker.

3:09 am Equifax confirms proposal to acquire Veda Group (EFX) :

Equifax confirmed that on September 17, it submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all the outstanding shares of common stock of Veda Group for AUD$2.70 per share in cash in a transaction valued at ~AUD2.3 billion or $1.6 billion. Veda is a data analytics company and the leading provider of credit information and analysis in Australia and New Zealand. 

• The proposal represents a 35% premium over Veda's closing price of AUD$1.995 on September 17, 2015, one day prior to the announcement by Veda of Equifax's proposal.
• Equifax believes the proposal is financially compelling, and creates considerable value for the shareholders of Veda, as well as Veda's customers and employees. The proposal is consistent with Equifax's stated strategic focus to expand into attractive new markets
  

2:03 am Nabriva Therapeutics (NBRV) prices 9 mln share IPO at $10.25, below the revised price of $10.50 (NBRV) : Nabriva's ADSs have been approved for listing on the NASDAQ Global Market and are expected to begin trading under the ticker symbol "NBRV" on September 18, 2015.