5:38 am Shanghai ... -1.7% (FXI) :  

5:38 am S&P futures vs fair value: +10.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +16.00. :

5:38 am European Markets : FTSE...6,249.82...-25.80...-0.40%.  DAX...10,718.29...-69.60...-0.70%.

5:38 am Asian Markets : Nikkei...19,504.48...-435.40...-2.20%.  Hang Seng...22,417.01...-62.70...-0.30%.

5:35 am General Electric, Boeing (BA) CEO's applaud Congress's decision to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank (GE) :

• GE Chairman Immelt issued a statement saying "Congress did the right thing today when it voted to reauthorize the U.S. ExIm bank. On behalf of our employees and suppliers across the country, we applaud the leaders in both the House and Senate who made this possible. It is excellent news for workers and businesses large and small who can now confidently compete and win deals globally"
• Boeing CEO Muilenburg also issued a statement saying "By reopening the Export-ImportBank, Congress has taken strong action enabling American exportersand the skilled workers they employ to compete successfully in tough globalmarkets. We commend the bipartisan majorities in both the House and theSenate that recognized the Ex-Im Bank's value to the U.S. economy by votingseveral times in recent months to reauthorize. With these votes, Congress didthe right thing for workers at companies large and small across the nation,including the 1.5 million workers at nearly 15,000 U.S. companies that helpBoeing design, make and support America's aerospace exports."

5:32 am Gilead Sciences receives EMA validation for Marketing Application for combination of Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir to treat HCV (GILD) :

Co announced that its Marketing Authorization Application for an investigational, once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir 400 mg and velpatasvir 100 mg, an investigational pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection, has been fully validated and is now under assessment by the European Medicines Agency.

• The data included in the application, which was submitted on November 17, 2015, support the use of SOF/VEL among patients with genotype 1-6 HCV infection, including patients with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis.
• Patients treated with SOF/VEL for 12 weeks in ASTRAL-1, ASTRAL-2 and ASTRAL-3 had similar adverse events compared with placebo-treated patients in ASTRAL-1. The most common adverse events in the four ASTRAL studies were headache, fatigue and nausea.
• This, however, does not assure a positive opinion from the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or final approval by the European Commission.
• If approved, SOF/VEL could be available for marketing in the European Union in 2016.

5:30 am easyJet reports Nov traffic rose 9.6% YoY (ESYJY) :

Co reports its Nov traffic results

• Total Passengers of 4,807,922 +9.6%
• Load Factor of 90.3% vs 89.5% in Nov 2014 +0.9pp
• There were 378 cancellations in November 2015 compared to 16 in November 2014

5:27 am Vodafone places 600 mln non-dilutive zero coupon equity-linked bonds due 2020 (VOD) :  

5:23 am Tata Motors reports sales for Nov of 38,918 units (TTM) :

Co announced its Nov unit sales results.

• Co continued to witness strong year-on-year growth in the M&HCV segment in November 2015, with a growth of 21%.
• Total sale of Tata Motors passenger and commercial vehicles (including exports) were at 38,918 vehicles, lower by 7%, over 41,720 vehicles, sold in November 2014.
• The domestic sale of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for November 2015 were at 35,345 nos lower by 6% over 37,427 vehicles sold in November 2014.

5:20 am Ladbrokes appoints John Kelly as Chairman (LDBKY) :

Co announces that John Kelly has been appointed as Chairman of the Board with immediate effect, after Peter Erskine stepped down from the Board on December 3.

• John Kelly's appointment follows the announcement in May that Peter Erskine intended to step-down from the Board during the year.
• In addition Ladbrokes has also appointed Mark Pain as a Non-Executive Director and chairman of the Audit Committee with immediate effect.
  

5:09 am Novo Nordisk files Marketing Authorisation Application with EMA approval for faster-acting insulin aspart (NVO) :

Co announced the submission to the European Medicines Agency of the Marketing Authorisation Application for the approval of faster-acting insulin aspart.

• Faster-acting insulin aspart is a mealtime insulin for improved control of postprandial glucose excursions and has been developed for the treatment of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
• Novo Nordisk expects to file the new drug application for faster-acting insulin aspart to the US Food and Drug Administration before year-end 2015.

4:54 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Allied World Assurance (AWH) announced that Allied World Global Markets has introduced enhanced coverage options for hospitals and other healthcare organizations in the UK, Asia and Australia.
• Yara International (YARIY) has signed an agreement to acquire Greenbelt Fertilizers, a leading distributor of fertilizers in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique for $51 million. 
• Motorola Solutions (MSI) announced formal, on-schedule completion of Ndnett, Norway's new nationwide digital Terrestrial Trunked Radio communications system for public safety and rescue users.
• Mentor Graphics (MENT) announced the availability of new tools delivering integrated electrical/electronic/software systems engineering capability for the transportation market. The new Capital Systems tools allow implementations to be optimized for key parameters such as cost and weight.
  

4:28 am Amgen submits Marketing Authorization Application to EMA for ABP 501 after Phase 3 studies (AMGN) :

Co announced the submission of a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Agency for ABP 501, a biosimilar candidate to Humira.

• Amgen believes this submission is the first adalimumab biosimilar application submitted to the EMA and represents Amgen's first biosimilar to be submitted for approval in the European Union.
• Phase 3 comparative efficacy and safety studies were conducted in both moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis.
• The Phase 3 studies met their primary endpoints showing clinical equivalence to adalimumab. Safety and immunogenicity of ABP 501 were also comparable to adalimumab in both studies.

4:25 am Seadrill enters new Total Return Swap agreement with exposure to 4 mln common shares (SDRL) :

Co has settled a Total Return Swap agreement expiring on December 3, 2015 with 4,000,000 common shares in Seadrill as underlying security.

• Seadrill has subsequently entered into a new TRS agreement with exposure to 4,000,000 Seadrill Limited common shares.
• The expiry date for the new TRS is March 3, 2016 and the reference price is NOK49.5977 per share.

4:23 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Digital Realty Trust (DLR) introduced Direct Link Colo, a solution that connects customers in Digital Realty data centers directly to IBM (IBM) Cloud via SoftLayer's global cloud infrastructure platform.
• GoPro (GPRO) announced the release of HERO4 Session, GoPro's smallest camera. Co highlights that the HERO4 Session is about the size an ice-cube, waterproof, and weighs 2.6 oz.
  

4:19 am Douglas Emmett CFO to retire at end of year; promotes its Chief Accounting Officer, Mona Gisler, as CFO (DEI) :

Co announced that Mona Gisler, its Chief Accounting Officer, will become its Chief Financial Officer effective January 1, 2016, replacing Theodore Guth who will retire as CFO December 31, 2015.

• After retiring as CFO, Guth will continue to be employed by Douglas Emmett as a Senior Advisor, and will provide ongoing support for a smooth transition and assist in operational matters

4:17 am Vitamin Shoppe prices offering of $125 mln of 2.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2020 (VSI) :  

4:16 am Avon Products receives letter from Barington Capital Group; has lost confidence in Avon's present leadership (AVP) :

An investor group led by Barington Capital Group, including NuOrion Partners AG and certain other investors, which collectively owns more than 3% of the outstanding shares of Avon Products, announced that it has sent a letter to the Chairman of the Board of the Company.

• In summary, the letter highlights the following:
  • Barrington believes company is significantly undervalued
  • Proposes restructuring plan to restore Avon as a leading global beauty brand
  • Barrington has lost confidence in avon's present leadership
  • Intends to nominate a slate of Director candidates for the 2016 Annual Meeting
  • Barrington cautions against any sale of the company's North America Business to private equity or a dilutive sale of an equity stake on unfavorable terms to shareholders
    

4:12 am Navidea Biopharma reports results from an investigator-initiated imaging study demonstrated Lymphoseek reduced imaging time by more than 50% (NAVB) :

Co presents results from an investigator-initiated imaging study demonstrated Lymphoseek injection reduced imaging time by more than 50% in sentinel lymph node biopsy procedures in malignant melanoma compared to Tc99m sulfur colloid. This finding suggests hospitals and oncology treatment teams can achieve greater patient throughput and workflow efficiencies utilizing Lymphoseek.

• the results show that in all 34 patients, all lymph nodes seen in the final 40-minute image were identified in the 20-minute image, providing rapid and stable localization and identification of the sentinel nodes.
• The study concludes that in malignant melanoma, SLN mapping with Lymphoseek involves a total imaging time of 20 minutes which is one-half of the time required for Tc99m SC.

4:10 am T2 Biosystems prices offering of 3,500,000 shares of common stock at $9.75 per share (TTOO) :  

4:09 am Egalet terminates its collaboration with Shionogi; Egalet regains worldwide rights to Phase 1 abuse-deterrent, extended-release hydrocodone, S-718632 (EGLT) :

Egalet announced the termination of its collaboration with Shionogi around its abuse-deterrent, extended-release hydrocodone product candidate.

• With the close of the partnership, Egalet gains worldwide rights to the Phase 1 product candidate, S-718632. The collaboration, which began in November 2013, was ended due to Shionogi's internal prioritization process.
• All development to date for S-718632 has been funded by Shionogi. A Phase 1 clinical trial has been completed and the data demonstrated that the formulations were consistent with the target product profile. At this time, Egalet is evaluating its options with respect to the further development of this program.

4:07 am Saneamento Basico announces intent to issue R$500 mln in unsecured and non-convertible debentures (SBS) :  

4:05 am Pulaski Financial to be acquired by Busey Bank (BUSE) (PULB) :

First Busey (BUSE), the holding company for Busey Bank, and Pulaski Financial (PULB) jointly announce the signing of a definitive agreement pursuant to which Busey will acquire Pulaski through a merger transaction and thereafter Pulaski Bank will be merged with and into Busey Bank.

• Under the terms of the merger agreement, Pulaski shareholders will receive 0.79 shares of Busey common stock for each share of Pulaski common stock. Based upon Busey's closing share price of $21.82 on December 3, 2015, the implied per share purchase price is $17.24 with an aggregate transaction value of ~$210.7 million.

3:59 am Bryn Mawr Bank extends exchange offer of $30 mln of 4.75% Fixed-To-Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due 2025 from Dec 3 to Dec 9 (BMTC) :  

3:54 am New Home prices 3,500,000 shares of common stock at $12.50 per share (NWHM) :  

3:07 am On The Wires (:WIRES) :

• Celanese (CE) announced that it has successfully concluded the sale of its atmospheric emulsions unit in La Canonja, Spain. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. 
• Holland America Lines, a division of Carnival (CCL), announced Ms Zuiderdam became the seventh ship in the fleet in 2015 to earn a perfect score of 100 on a routine United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.