>>> First Solar Inc. To partner with GE to develop a more cost effective and pro


First Solar Inc. To partner with GE to develop a more cost effective and productive utility-scale PV power
- First Solar has integrated new technology into its modules and optimized them for 1500VDC applications. Combined with GEs 4MW ProSolar 1500V inverter/transformer stations, this development enables power plant engineering design that significantly increases the size of the solar array served by each inverter and reduces the number of inverter/transformer stations required for each plant to convert the power from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) and feed electricity to a commercial electrical grid. The resulting plant design maintains high power delivery while lowering installation and maintenance costs.
- Morjaria said First Solar has already identified projects under construction for initial deployment of the new 1500v system. The 4MW ProSolar 1500V station is the largest inverter in the industry capable of accommodating 1,500 volt DC solar arrays, which is a major factor in utilizing economies of scale by significantly increasing the array size and reducing the number of inverters required by a solar power plant.

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up 

In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: PSUN +9%, OXGN +2.5%, ADBE +0.8%, KBH +0.8%, ALOT +0.6%.

M&A news: HZNP +19.6% (to acquire Vidara Therapeutics; accelerated transformation of Horizon to a profitable specialty pharma company ),YHOO +0.9% ( Bloomberg discusses that YHOO may make larger acquisitions following Alibaba).

Select EU financial related names showing strength: DB 2.7%, NBG 1.8%, BCS 1.7%.

Select 3D Printing stocks trading higher: DDD +1.2%, XONE +1.0%.

Other news: PRTA +8.5% (announced clinical data to be presented at International Symposium on Amyloidosis), WPCS +7.2% (announced that the beta version of the BTX trader platform), EXAS +7.1% (results of a clinical trial of Cologuard show unprecedented rates of precancer and cancer detection by a noninvasive test), CWH +3.5% (Corvex Management and Related Fund Management announce that holders of over 81% of outstanding shares approve removal of entire Board of Trustees), PLUG +3.5% (cont vol), CERE +3.3% (still checking), NSPH +2.2% (entered into $30 mln common stock purchase agreement with Aspire Capital), VRNS +2.2% (still checking), THRX +2.1% (disclosed it was informed by its partner, Clinigen, that the European Commission has lifted the Europe-wide suspension of Marketing Authorization and amended the Marketing Authorization for VIBATIV), WLT +2% (commences private offerings of $100 mln aggregate principal amount of 9.500% senior secured notes due 2019 and $350 mln aggregate principal amount of senior secured second lien PIK toggle notes due 2020), FCEL +1.8% (continued vol), OPTT +1.7% (still checking).

Analyst comments: CGEN +4.5% (initiated with a Buy at Jefferies), JNPR +3.3% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo), TEVA +1.4% (upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman), SU +1.1% (initiated with a Sector Outperform at CIBC Wrld Mkts), RIG +1% (upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Citigroup), EPD +0.9% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse)

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: RENN -9%, ATU -3.8%, ESLT -3%, ORCL -2.9%, VRA -2.6%, SCTY -0.8%.

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: KGC -1.4%, ABX -1.3%, GLD -0.6%, GDX -0.6%, IAG -0.5%, AUY -0.5%.

Other news: USU -14.9% (trading lower on light volume; looking around. The co has not provided update since March 5 restructuring plan news), GLW -5.2% (still checking, light volume), RBCN -4.8% (announced proposed public offering of common stock by selling shareholders), DK -3.9% (hearing block trade, unconfirmed), ORC -3.3% (announced public offering of 4 mln shares of common stock), NUS -3.1% (earlier today co disclosed in 10-K filing that it voluntarily suspended business promotional meetings and other activities in mainland China; sees fines from regulators as 'likely'), VGR -2% (filed for $150 mln offering of Variable Interest Convertible Senior Notes due 2020).

Analyst comments: OWW -6.1% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman), WETF -3.7% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup), TLM -0.9% (initiated with a Sector Underperform at CIBC Wrld Mkts).

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up: EXAS +15.7%, PRTA +13.6%, CWH +4.9%, CGEN +4.7%, DB +2.4%, NSPH +2.2%, THRX +2.1%, PSUN +2%, RIG +1.3%, VRA +1.2%, COCO +0.7%, KBH +0.7%, TSLA +0.6%

Gapping down: RBCN -5.2%, NUS -4.8%, RENN -4.5%, ORC -3.3%, ORCL -3%, OXGN -2.5%, VGR -2.4%, SCTY -1.6%, KGC -1.4%, ATU -1.4%, AUY -1.3%, ABX -1.2%, IAG -1%, GFI -1%, GLD -0.7%, GDX -0.7%

(BFW) SKF to Schaeffler Fined $1.33 Bln by EU in Ball-Bearings Cartel

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

SKF to Schaeffler Fined $1.33 Bln by EU in Ball-Bearings Cartel 2014-03-19 10:25:00.8 GMT

By Aoife White and Gaspard Sebag March 19 (Bloomberg) -- SKF AB, Schaeffler AG, NTN Corp., NSK Ltd. and Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. agreed to pay a combined EU953.3 mln ($1.33 billion) fine to settle a European Union antitrust probe into automotive ball-bearings, EU says. * Jtekt Corp. escaped a penalty for blowing the whistle on the cartel, the European Commission says * Schaeffler fined EU370.5m, SKF fined EU315.1m, NTN fined EU201.4m, NSK EU62.4m and Nachi-Fujikoshi EU3.96m * “Today’s decision is a further milestone in the commission’s ongoing effort to bust cartels in the markets for car parts, after the sanctions we imposed on producers of electric wires and of foam used in car seats,” Competition Commission Joaquin Almunia says in e-mailed statement * SEE: EU Said to Fine Ball-Bearings Makers to Settle Cartel Probe {NSN N2N1656K50YC <GO>} * SEE: SKF to Book 3 Billion-Krona Provision to Cover Possible Fine {NSN MY3TUP6VDKHV <GO>}

Link to Company News:{42386Z GR <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{5801 JP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{6471 JP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{6472 JP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{6473 JP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{6474 JP <Equity> CN <GO>} Link to Company News:{SKFB SS <Equity> CN <GO>}

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

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

To contact the reporter on this story: Gaspard Sebag in Brussels at +32-2-285-4317 or gsebag@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Chapman at +32-2-285-4318 or pchapman10@bloomberg.net

(MEA) Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: plea to US to release Pine Gap data

Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: plea to US to release Pine Gap data
2014-03-19 08:47:00.497 GMT


By Lindsay Murdoch and Michael Bachelard
     March 19 (The Age) -- Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia believes data 
from US spy satellites monitored in Australia could help find 
missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 but the information is 
being withheld. 
     The country's Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has 
specifically asked the US to share information obtained from 
the Pine Gap base near Alice Springs, according to the 
government-controlled New Straits Times newspaper. 
     Authorities in Kuala Lumpur believe that finding the plane 
now depends on the willingness of a number of countries to 
share potentially sensitive radar and satellite data.  
     They want to use the information to calibrate with data 
they have already obtained to narrow the search areas from a 
massive 2.4 million square nautical miles stretching from 
Central Asia to the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean. 
     Thailand’s military said on Tuesday that its radar 
detected a plane that may have been MH370 just minutes after 
the plane’s communications went down, and that it didn’t share 
the information with Malaysia earlier because it wasn’t 
specifically asked for it. 
     Indonesia's Rear Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto said his country 
had nothing to add to the information gathered by radar 
facilities across the world, because Indonesia’s facilities had 
not caught sight of the ill-fated flight. “The radar we have 
which face Malaysia directly are in Sabang in Aceh and in 
Medan, but the radar data provided no information on MH370.” 
     For three days, Mr Hishammuddin has reiterated publicly 
that Malaysia had asked countries to provide sensitive data 
from their satellites, specifically naming the US, France and 
China. 
     “Our focus is on four tasks: gathering information from 
satellite surveillance, analysis of surveillance radar data, 
increasing air and surface assets and increasing the number of 
technical and subject matter experts,” Mr Hishammuddin said on 
Tuesday night. 
     “On satellite surveillance, I cannot disclose who has what 
capability but I can confirm we have contacted every relevant 
country that has access to satellite data,” he said. 
     Mr Hishammuddin concedes information obtained from 
military-use satellites is regarded as privileged on national 
security grounds and usually not shared among nations. 
     But he said Malaysia had “put our search effort above our 
national security” by disclosing raw military data which had 
allowed experts to identify areas where the plane could have 
flown after it lost communications and turned back from its 
scheduled flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8. 
     Asked if countries had been forthcoming with information, 
Mr Hishammuddin replied: “the only one [country] that is 
basically out in the open is Malaysia.” 
     After speaking by telephone with US Defence Secretary 
Chuck Hagel on Tuesday, Mr Hishammuddin said the US has 
“possibly the best ability” to help locate the plane. US ships 
and planes are involved in a 25-country search. 
     Mr Hishammuddin confirmed he also asked Mr Hagel about US 
support from US satellite and radar systems. Mr Hagel has not 
commented directly on Malaysia’s request for access to US 
satellite data. 
     The New Straits Times newspaper on Wednesday led its 
coverage of the missing plane with a story referring to Pine 
Gap as a “super-secret” installation in the barren Australian 
heartland that could solve the puzzle of the mystery 
disappearance. 
     The newspaper quoted Mr Hishammuddin as saying Malaysia 
would “appreciate” if the US could provide investigators with 
data from its facilities in Australia. 
     “Although he did not mention the two facilities by name, 
the New Straits Times believes he was alluding to the Pine Gap 
and Jindalee facilities,” the newspaper said. 
     The Jindalee Operational Radar Network, known as JORN, is 
Australia’s powerful military radar system that has an official 
range of 3000 kilometres but experts say it’s 
over-the-horizon-radar system can detect movements across 
37,000 square kilometres. 
     Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Parliament 
on Monday that all of Australia’s defence intelligence relating 
to the plane “has been and will continue to be passed on to 
Malaysian authorities”. Australia releases only limited 
information about the JORN system which has enormous antenna 
installations spaced across the outback. 
     John Blaxland of the Australian National University’s 
strategic and defence studies centre said the JORN system would 
probably have to have been programmed to look for MH370 in 
advance. 
     But he said experts are certain to be scrutinising data 
from the system that is seen as a key part of Australia’s 
defence. 
     “I hope they find something but I think there would be a 
remote chance they would pick up the plane,” he said. 
     Under a so-called “Five Eyes” program, the intelligence 
services of the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada 
share intelligence information among themselves. There is no 
history of a general sharing of intelligence data with Malaysia 
or China whose nationals account for most of the passengers on 
the missing plane. Usually information is shared only on a 
bilateral basis for specific reasons. 
     Chinese officials in Kuala Lumpur have told Chinese 
journalists that “nothing is being hidden” by Beijing in the 
search for the plane.  
     MH370 was confirmed as emitting a signal at 8.11 am on 
March 8 by satellite data provided by London-based Inmarsat, 
more than seven hours after it turned back from its scheduled 
flight path while over the South China Sea. 
     Australia is leading a search for the plane in 600,000 
square kilometres of the southern Indian Ocean, an area the 
size of France. “A needle in a haystack remains a good 
analogy,” said John Young of the Australian Maritime Safety 
Authority which is co-ordinating the search in the Indian 
Ocean. 
     Rear Marshall Hadi said the Indonesian navy had been 
searching in the Malacca Strait since the day after the plane 
went missing. Now that the search area had been expanded into 
the Indian Ocean, he said the airforce was willing to join the 
search, but it had not yet been given instructions about the 
specific area to look in. 
     “We have our airforce liaison officer now in Malaysia to 
help to coordinate us … on the search,” Rear Marshall Hadi 
said. “With the recent information now that search area is 
expanded to the Indian Ocean we are waiting to hear the search 
coverage in Indian Ocean that Malaysia would like us to help 
searching.  
     “We are still waiting for information from Malaysia … 
However we have already started searching on areas in the 
western part of Sumatra. It coincides with annual training we 
are doing now in Medan for a week. We are using six F16 
aircrafts in the training so we are doing training and 
searching at the same time.”

Click here to see the story as it appeared on The Age web site.

The Age 
Copyright © (2011)  Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited. 
www.theage.com.au. Not available for re-distribution.

-0- Mar/19/2014 08:47 GMT

>>> Scania's minority shareholders wish to collaborate with Investor against Vol

Scania's minority shareholders wish to collaborate with Investor against Volkswagen

Scania’s minority shareholders wish to collaborate with the Swedish investment company Investor in opposition to German Volkswagen’s offer for the rest of the Swedish truck maker, according to Dagens Industri. The Swedish business daily reported, without citing any specific sources, that the shareholder group Scania’s Friends, which represents 4.6% of the shares in Scania, is planning to approach Investor which owns around 0.4% of the shares in Scania in hopes to collaborate against the offer.

The item noted that Scania’s independent committee announced yesterday that it recommended Scania’s shareholders to reject VW’s offer of SEK 200 (EUR 22.6) per share. The paper reported further that minority shareholders have to stop VW from reaching the 90% needed to succeed in the takeover.

The paper speculated that if VW’s offer ends up being rejected, it is very likely that the German auto giant will raise its offer to SEK 210-220 (EUR 23.7-24.9) per share. The paper wrote that a 10% raise, which corresponds to around SEK 6bn (EUR 678m), is a low figure in comparison to VW’s earlier investments in Scania and its German peer, MAN.

The paper also pointed out, however, that stopping the takeover could be very risky as Scania’s share price will likely drop to SEK 140 (EUR 15.83) if VW withdraws its offer and it seems highly unlikely that an alternative bidder will present itself.


Source Dagens Industri