>>> US Gapping Up

Gapping Up:

In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SCS 7.0%, AKS 6.8%, STAY 5.7%, CAG 5.1%, PAYX 1.6%, ORCL 0.1%, BGCP 0.0%,

M&A news: BMY +1% (BMY to sell its diabetes business to AstraZeneca (AZN); raises Quarterly div by $0.01 to $0.36 per share); BAYRY +0.1% (Bayer AG plans to acquire Norwegian pharmaceutical co Algeta for NOK 362 per share in cash; implies equity value of NOK 17.6 bln (EUR 2.1 bln)

Other news: ALIM +90% (co and FDA Enter Into Labeling Discussions for ILUVIEN, Agree Advisory Committee No Longer Necessary); PSDV +58% (partnered with ALIM, co and FDA Enter Into Labeling Discussions for ILUVIEN, Agree Advisory Committee No Longer Necessary; CDTI +29% (announced that it has received two significant emission reduction product verifications from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") for use in heavy duty highway truck engines and off-road engines); OXBT +8.5% (provides a business review and update in conjunction with filing of 2Q2014 financials; in 2014, co anticipates enrolling first patient in the Phase 3 trial for levosimendan in cardiac surgery patients at risk for developing LCOS in July 2014); CCIH +8.3% (still checking); HYGS +8.0% (selected as a participating partner in a DOE project award to supply hydrogen fuel cell modules to the Center for Transportation and the Environment); GILT +7.6% (awarded a project valued at $30 mln as part of the Integracion Amazonica Loreto; awarded $99-million project from Colombia's MINTIC); USU +7.3% (was informed that Department of Energy Prepared to Extend American Centrifuge RD&D Program Three Months) STNG +5.0% (still checking); PERI +4.6% (still checking); TRLA +4.0% (S.A.C. Capital discloses 5.2% passive stake in 13G filing); COG +2.7% (announces agreement to provide natural gas to the Dominion Cove Point LNG Terminal); BBRY +1.3% (announced two appointments that strengthen the Company's strategy, marketing and operations); HALO +2.1% (still checking); CIEN +1.7% (ollowing favorable mention on Mad Money); TSL +0.3% (Trina Solar has been chosen as the sole supplier of 25 MW of modules to Phase III of the 75 MW Bangchak Solar Energy Project in Thailand)

Analyst comments: RMTI +7.9% (Chardan Capital Markets Initiated Coverage with a Buy and $22 tgt); CHTP +2.5% (initiated with a Mkt Outperform at JMP Securities)

>>> US Early Pre-Market Gappers

Early Pre-Market Gappers

Gapping up: ALIM +62.7%, PSDV +41.4%, HYGS +7.8%, USU +7.1%, SCS +7.0%, AKS +6.8%, STAY +5.7%, TRLA +4.0%, BBRY +2.3%, CAG +2%, PAYX +1.6%, CIEN +1.3%, TSL +0.3%, ORCL +0.1%, BAYRY +0.1%

Gapping down: SMTC -18.0%, GIG -8.5%, CVM -8.5%, RAD -8.0%, VRTX -7.5%, SPCB -4.5%, FB -4.3%, ACN -3.0%, APOG -2.5%, WDR -1.6%, PIR -1.0%, MLHR -0.8%, TSLA -0.7%, MCD -0.3%, UUUU -0.2%, APC -0.2%, OAKS -0.1%, DISH -0.1%

(BFW) French Competition Body Fines Schering-Plough EU15.3m

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

BN 12/19 12:26 *FRENCH COMPETITION BODY FINES SCHERING-PLOUGH EU15.3 MLN

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

French Competition Body Fines Schering-Plough EU15.3m 2013-12-19 12:36:20.53 GMT

By Steve Rhinds Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The national competition authority said the co. offered ‘unjustified’ discounts to pharmacists in an attempt to limit sales of a generic version of its Subutex treatment. * Parent co. Merck is also fined EU414,000 for collusion and Subutex manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser was fined EU318,000, the competition authority said in a statement on its website * Schering-Plough and Reckitt Benckiser formed a joint plan in 2005 to minimize sales of generic rivals, the authority says

Link to competition authority statement (in French): http://tinyurl.com/pqzvpbc

Link to Company News:{RB/ LN <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{MRK US <Equity> CN <GO>}

For Related News and Information: First Word scrolling panel: {FIRST<GO>} First Word newswire: {NH BFW<GO>}

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Rhinds at +33-1-5365-5072 or srhinds@bloomberg.net

(RTR) Tesla Model S charging system may have started garage fire


Exclusive: Tesla Model S charging system may have started garage fire - California fire dept

(Reuters) - A fire department in Southern California said a garage fire may have been caused by an overheated charging system in a Tesla Model S sedan, in the latest link between the top selling electric car and the potential for fire.
While Tesla Motors Inc maintains that the fire was not related to the car or its charging system, the Orange County Fire Authority said the Tesla-supplied charging system or the connection at the electricity panel on the wall of the garage of a single-family home could have caused the fire.
"The fire occurred as a result of an electrical failure in the charging system for an electric vehicle," said a report by the fire authority, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
The report also emphasizes that the cause of the fire is unclear.
"The most probable cause of this fire is a high resistance connection at the wall socket or the Universal Mobile Connector from the Tesla charging system" which was plugged into a 240-volt wall socket, the report said.
The fire occurred on November 15 in Irvine, California. The possible link between the fire and the Tesla Model S was not reported previously.
The garage fire is not related to three road fires in Model S sedans that occurred in October and November and which caused Tesla's stock to fall sharply last month. The road fires occurred in Washington state, Tennessee and Mexico.
In the U.S. incidents, Model S sedans caught fire after running over road debris. In Mexico, a Model S caught fire after striking a concrete wall.
U.S. regulators are investigating the cause of the U.S. road fires, which caused the high-flying stock of the "green" car maker to fall from a high of $194.50 in late September to under $120 in late November.
On Wednesday, Tesla shares fell 2.9 percent to close at $147.98 on the Nasdaq.
The November residential fire on the campus of the University of California-Irvine caused $25,000 of damage to the garage and its contents, but the Model S sustained only smoke damage, and no one in the house was injured, according to the Orange County Fire Authority's report.
A Tesla representative disagreed on Wednesday with some of the report's findings. "We looked into the incident," said Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean. "We can say it absolutely was not the car, the battery or the charging electronics."
She added: "The cable was fine on the vehicle side. All the damage was on the wall side.
"A review of the car's logs showed that the battery had been charging normally, and there were no fluctuations in temperature or malfunctions within the battery or the charge electronics," said Jarvis-Shean.
The owner of the Model S, who lives at the Irvine residence, had parked the car in the garage the evening of November 14, plugged the cord from the vehicle into the 240-volt wall socket, and set a timer to begin the flow of electricity to the car's on-board batteries at midnight.
She noticed a fire just before 3 a.m. and called for help. Fire crews put out the blaze quickly.
Some cardboard boxes stacked near the point of connection between the Tesla Model S charging system and the connection to the 240-volt outlet helped the fire spread, the report said. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit and Norihiko Shirouzu in Beijing; editing by Matthew Lewis)

>>> Accenture beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below consensus; rai

Accenture beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs below consensus; raises FY14 EPS slightly, in-line, reaffirms FY14 constant FX rev

Reports Q1 (Nov) earnings of $1.15 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.10; revenues rose 1.9% year/year to $7.36 bln vs the $7.25 bln consensus.

Consulting net revenues for the quarter were $3.94 billion, a decrease of 1% in U.S. dollars and flat in local currency compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Outsourcing net revenues were $3.42 billion, an increase of 5% in U.S. dollars and 6% in local currency over the first quarter of fiscal 2013. New bookings for the first quarter were $8.7 billion and reflect a negative 2% foreign-currency impact compared with new bookings in the first quarter last year. Consulting new bookings were $4.3 billion, or 49% of total new bookings. Outsourcing new bookings were $4.4 billion, or 51% of total new bookings.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $6.95-7.25 bln vs. $7.28 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Co issues in-line guidance for FY14, raises EPS to $4.44-4.56 from $4.42-4.54 vs. $4.49 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY14 revs +1.5-5.5% (including 50 bps FX headwind, down from 100 bps) to ~$28.99-30.13 bln vs. $29.62 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

During Q1, Accenture repurchased or redeemed 9.7 million shares for a total of $722 million, including ~8.0 million shares repurchased in the open market.

*ASTON MARTIN AND DAIMLER SIGN TECHNICAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS

*ASTON MARTIN, DAIMLER SIGN SUPPLY, DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS
*ASTON MARTIN, DAIMLER TO DEVELOP, SUPPLY ENGINES
*DAIMLER TO RECEIVE UP TO 5% EQUITY IN ASTON MARTIN
*DAIMLER, ASTON MARTIN PLAN E/E COMPONENT SUPPLY


FT : Mercedes-Benz to take Aston Martin stake

Aston Martin has reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz under which the German carmaker will supply engines in exchange for as much as a 5 per cent stake in the British sports car company.
Aston, which has struggled to compete with better-funded luxury carmakers in recent years, will announce the agreement on Thursday, two people with knowledge of the deal told the Financial Times.

Aston and Daimler, Mercedes’ owner, signed a letter of intent in July to begin talks on a partnership. Daimler will get observer status on Aston’s board in addition to an initial 4 per cent stake in the non-cash deal.
The German company will increase its holding to 5 per cent of non-voting shares in Aston, dependent on further development of the agreement, such as a looming deal for Daimler to share development of its electronic systems and parts, the people said.
The British brand, famed for its role in the James Bond novels, will win access to the technical expertise of Mercedes’ high-end AMG division, in order to develop new V8 engines to power its next generation of models, seen as key to the company’s attempts to reboot itself after years of underfunding and ownership changes.
Aston’s sales slumped during the credit crunch and the company struggled to match investments made by rival marques such as Jaguar Land Rover or Bentley, which are owned by large automobiles groups with deep pockets and colossal research and development budgets.
The agreement will enable Aston, which plans to announce its new chief executive to succeed Ulrich Bez in the first quarter of 2014, to avoid the huge costs associated with developing its own engines.
It also gives Daimler a foothold in one of the world’s most prestigious car brands. Aston’s current engines are developed in conjunction with Ford, its previous owner.
Daimler will join a company jointly run by Investindustrial, an Italian private equity fund, and The Investment Dar, a Kuwaiti investment group, which bought the carmaker in 2007.
The agreement will enable Aston, which plans to announce its new chief executive to succeed Ulrich Bez in the first quarter of 2014, to avoid the huge costs associated with developing its own engines
Following the initial 4 per cent stake taken by Daimler, Investindustrial will own 36 per cent of Aston and a suite of Kuwaiti investment vehicles will own a total of 58.2 per cent. The remainder is held by individuals.
Investment Dar became overextended in the global financial crisis and underwent a long and complex debt restructuring, which has sapped its appetite for further investment into the carmaker.
Investindustrial, the Italian private equity group that won plaudits for its turnround and sale of Ducati, the superbike brand, took an initial 37.5 per cent stake in the carmaker last December.
Investindustrial, which bought Ducati in 2005 and sold it to the Volkswagen Group in 2012, is expected to be targeting a similar seven to 10-year turnround at Aston, with a possible exit through an initial public offering, one of the people said.
Aston, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire, and one of the last remaining independent luxury car brands, is currently in the middle of a five-year, €625m product plan investment to develop its new V8 and DB9 models, ahead of a targeted increase in sales to 7,000 by 2016 from 4,000 this year.

>>> Facebook To offer 70M shares (3% of shares outstanding)


Facebook To offer 70M shares (3% of shares outstanding) - filing
- Facebook, Inc. is offering 27,004,761 shares of its Class A common stock and the selling stockholders are offering 42,995,239 shares of Class A common stock. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

- Our principal purpose for selling shares in this offering is to obtain additional capital. We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes; however, we do not currently have any specific uses of the net proceeds planned. Additionally, we may use a portion of the proceeds to us for acquisitions of complementary businesses, technologies, or other assets.
- Pending other uses, we intend to invest the proceeds to us in investment-grade, interest-bearing securities such as money market funds, certificates of deposit, or direct or guaranteed obligations of the U.S. government, or hold as cash. We cannot predict whether the proceeds invested will yield a favorable return. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds we receive from this offering, and investors will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of the net proceeds.
- We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the selling stockholders. Mark Zuckerberg, our Chairman and CEO, will offer and sell 41,350,000 shares in this offering. We expect that the majority of the net proceeds Mr. Zuckerberg will receive upon such sale will be used to satisfy taxes that he will incur in connection with the exercise, in full, of an outstanding stock option to purchase 60,000,000 shares of Class B common stock.