TheChek News Flow

Gapping up

In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: ZLTQ +28.6%, EXPE +17.5%, ALU +15.2% (also Alcatel-Lucent and NantWorks announce definitive agreement by which NantWorks will acquire ALU's Digital Multimedia Solutions product business unit; financial terms not disclosed), SPRT +11.3%, FLDM +10.5%, PFPT +10.1%, (light volume), CRR +8.3%, (light volume), ANIK +7.2%, QUIK +6.9%, (light volume), SSNI +6.5%, ITMN +5.6%, (light volume), UNTD +5.3%, SWKS +5.1%, WMB +4.9%, TRN +4.7%, ANR +3.9%, (light volume), ATML +3.6%, THOR +3.2%, (Thoratec upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord), AFFX +3%, (light volume), OI +3%, (light volume), BT +2.9%, (light volume), CTRX +2.6%, (light volume), FB +2.6%, MCHP +2.6%, EL +2.6%, (ticking higher), CAVM +2.5%, HBI +2.4%, CAH +2.4%, (light volume), PRGO +1.9%, FLT +1.7%, MA +1.6%, IPI +1.4%, (light volume), POWI +1.1%, ARRS +1%, PRAA +0.9%, (light volume), MTGE +0.4%, (light volume),.

Select online travel names showing strength following EXPE results: OWW +4.6%, TRIP +1.6%, PCLN +1.2%, CTRP +1.1%.

Other news: OPTT +28.3% (awarded $2.6 mln contract by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding for development and supply of Japan Utility PowerBuoy system), XOMA +14.4% ( Results From Two Phase 2 Studies in XOMA's Gevokizumab Proof-of-Concept Program Are Very Encouraging and Compelling), NQ +11.5% (looking around for anything new), PRAN +10.2% (continued strength), CETV +9.2% (modestly rebounding), VVUS +3.7% (Newly Published Study Finds Qsymia Achieves Greater Weight Loss at Lower Doses Than Either of Its Components as Monotherapy), CRTO +2.9% (recent IPO), JNY +2.6% (following late spike after NYPost James Covert reported 'NY POST EXCLUSIVE on auction process of Jones Group coming shortly'), FF +2.5% (FF to replace AOS in the S&P SmallCap 600), GLW +1.2% (announces $1 bln accelerated share repurchase ), DB +1.1% (still checking), AOS +0.8% (AOS to replace SKS in the S&P MidCap 400), TEVA +0.8% ( FDA clears commencement of Phase 3 chronic heart failure trial ), YELP +0.7% (prices 3.75 mln share follow-on offering at $67.00 per share ), BP +0.7% (RDS.A and TOT reported), ELN +0.7% (PRGO reported), BUD +0.2% (positive mention on MadMoney).

Analyst comments: HTS +0.8% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Compass ), HES +0.6% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse)

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up: ZLTQ +37.8%, EXPE +19.1%, ALU +15.2%, XOMA +14.4%, SPRT +11.3%, FLDM +10.5%, PFPT +10.1%, CETV +9.2%, ANIK +7.2%, QUIK +6.9%, SSNI +6.5%, ITMN +5.6%, HBI +5.1%, SWKS +5.1%, TRN +4.7%, OWW +4.6%, THOR +3.2%, AFFX +3%, OI +3%, PRAA +2.9%, FB +2.6%, MCHP +2.6%, FF +2.5%, ATML +1.8%, FLT +1.7%, TRIP +1.6%, IPI +1.4%, PCLN +1.2%, CTRP +1.1%, DB +1.1%, POWI +1.1%, ARRS +1%

Gapping down: RATE -11.7%, JIVE -11.6%, OTEX -11.5%, GLUU -10.3%, EDMC -9.8%, DSCO -9.3%, WTW -9.3%, ROVI -8.3%, JDSU -8.1%, TSYS -8%, QTWW -7.1%, SGI -6.9%, SNE -6%, MOH -5.5%, EGAS -4.6%, SPWR -3.5%, ZNH -3.2%, MERU -3.1%, MET -3.1%, V -2.6%, AU -2.4%, AXTI -2.3%, AZN -2.2%, SLRC -2.1%, ABX -2%, ALL -1.8%, WDC -1.7%, SLV -1.7%, SBUX -1.6%, FSLR -1.4%, JASO -1.4%, GDX -1.4%, KORS -1.3%, RKUS -1.2%, RCL -1.1%, DRIV -0.9%, YELP -0.8%

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Third Point May Want Cypriot Hellenic Bank: Phileleftheros 2013-10-31 10:52:47.91 GMT

By Paul Tugwell Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Third Point representatives have already met with Central Bank of Cyprus to express “serious interest” in acquiring majority of Hellenic Bank share capital, Nicosia-based Phileleftheros newspaper reports, citing unidentified CBC officials. * Third Point wants to buy shares from planned capital increase worth minimum EU60m, prepared to cover full EU168m increase: Phileleftheros * NOTE: Hellenic Bank said Oct. 29 in Cyprus bourse filing that it received investor interest in capital increase * NOTE: Third Point Fund Invests $60m in Greece’s Energean Oil & Gas NSN MMSNKX6JIJV3 <GO> * NOTE: Third Point Plans Greek-Focused Hedge Fund on Recovery Bet NSN ML3C7V6JTSF4 <GO>

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

--Editors: Jerrold Colten, Marco Bertacche

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tugwell in Athens at +30-210-74-19-073 or ptugwell1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at +39-02-8064-4261 or jcolten@bloomberg.net

Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), which is attempting to reduce its debt load, is considering a wide range of options from a strategic equity investment to further streaming deals that yield upfront cash, according to several sources familiar with the situation.The sources, who asked not to be named because the talks are confidential, said the discussions have so far been exploratory in nature and no deals are imminent at this time. A spokesman for Barrick declined to comment on the matter. One source said Barrick's management has met with top fund managers in Asia and the Middle East to gauge the interest in a possible private placement-style equity deal, in order to raise capital and bring on board a large, long-term strategic investor as a move to boost market confidence in the company. Such a move would be similar to the one taken by diversified miner Teck Resources Ltd (TCKb.TO), which in 2009 sold a roughly 17 percent stake in itself to Chinese sovereign wealth fund, CIC or China Investment Corp. At the time, Vancouver-based Teck was struggling under a massive debt load as it acquired Fording Coal for $14.1 billion, just as the global financial crisis began and commodity prices imploded. Barrick, the world's top bullion miner, has faced a similar struggle over the last year, as the price of gold has fallen 21 percent and costs at Pascua Lama - its massive gold project on the border of Chile and Argentina, have soared. Shares in Barrick have fallen 46 percent over the last 12 months. The company's shares hit C$14.22 in July, their lowest point since 1992, but have since rebounded a bit and the stock closed on Wednesday at C$21.55. The Toronto-based gold miner will be announcing its third-quarter results on Thursday, and is expected to provide analysts and investors an update on capital costs at Pascua Lama, which were last pegged at up to $8.5 billion. Another source briefed on the matter, said Barrick is also considering a further streaming deal to pay for any additional capital outlay at Pascua Lama. Such deals, give miners cash up front in exchange for an agreement to sell future production of a by-product like silver at a discounted price. Barrick already has a streaming deal in place at Pascua Lama - In 2009, Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW.TO) bought 25 percent of the life-of-mine silver production from the project. Bloomberg, earlier on Wednesday, reported that the company is also considering selling part of its copper business, or even a stake in Pascua Lama, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The report said Barrick has not settled on a strategy, and that there is no certainty a deal will occur. In an interview with Reuters last month, Barrick's Chief Executive Jamie Sokalsky categorically denied that the company has any plans to sell its copper assets. "They are still core assets for us," said Sokalsky during an interview in Denver. "It is not about just gold or copper, it's about an asset that generates returns and free cash flow." Barrick owns copper mines and projects in South America, Africa and the Middle East. The company, in August, agreed to sell three of its higher-cost gold mines in Australia to Gold Fields (GFIJ.J) for $300 million. Sokalsky told Reuters last month that the company remains in talks about some further asset sales with the focus on divesting smaller, higher-cost mines.

Larry Fink, the esteemed head of investment giant BlackRock, thinks the financial markets are “bubble-like.” And he says so publicly. The Wall Street Journal points out in an Oct. 27 article that a growing number of Internet companies that aren’t profitable and don’t even have revenues are being valued at extraordinarily high prices. “It isn’t quite 1999,” the Journal demurs, recalling the good old days of tech company overvaluations, but it mentions the comparison anyway. An outfit called TrimTabs, which tracks investors’ actions, says that cash has been flooding into mutual funds and other stock investments this year at the fastest pace since 2000, the height of the last big bubble. Even CNBC, the mouthpiece and apologist for Wall Street, seems to be coaxing more guests to utter pessimist predictions about stocks. So let’s see: Bubble-like; the highest inflow of cash into stocks since 2000; companies without earnings or even revenues valued in the billions; and, my gawd, CNBC finally trying to be honest! Let me translate all of this into plain English for you: A lot of people are worried that stocks are headed for another crash. And I’m one of them. That’s the easy part, since stock prices have been rising almost every single day without the normal backtracking that has always happened during healthy ascents. Even with Wednesday’s 61.59-point decline, the Dow Jones industrial average and other indices are just 24 hours removed from all-time highs. The hard part? Predicting when the crash going to occur. Nobody, of course, knows for sure. (And if I did, I’d probably only tell family, friends — and random cute women who stroll by the front of our building.) You think the market declines in 2007 and 2008 were bad? The next big decline in the stock market is going to legendary — and gruesome. There’s a trick in predicting things like this. Many columnists will say that something bad is bound to happen — but they never say when. I usually don’t employ that trick but I make an exception now because this time the stock market really is different. The most obvious danger for stocks is the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, Ben Bernanke’s Fed kept its market-rigging $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program unchanged because the economy isn’t quite right yet. I’m hardly the only one who thinks this Fed program, which goes by the innocent name Quantitative Easing (QE), is the devil itself. But devil or not, it’s the one thing keeping stocks in heady territory. The Fed’s policy-making Open Market Committee said on Wednesday the economy just wasn’t strong enough for it to stop rigging the bond market, which is being done to keep interest rates unnaturally low. Those low rates, in turn, are sending investors scurrying to stocks despite the fact that corporate earnings are rising only moderately. And even those moderately higher profits are being achieved mainly by economy-damaging cost cutting. Ironically, interest rates rose after the Fed announced what the markets had been expecting. In other words, Wall Street was worried — at least for the moment — that the Fed wouldn’t be able to keep either inflation or interest rates down. And if that happens, corporate profits and stock prices will be hurt. Wall Street will get over that concern soon because it knows that the Fed has trapped itself in the QE program, which prints money to buy the bonds it holds. Until there is a reasonable gain in economic activity, soon-to-be Fed Chairman Janet Yellen won’t be able to stop buying bonds by the stadium-full. Unless … (This is the dramatic portion of the column, the part where I say something that doesn’t have a wide consensus. ) … unless the Fed loses control of interest rates. Rates on government securities are up substantially over the past five months, even though they have recently backed off from recent highs. But if the market defies the Fed again and takes interest rates back up, all bets on QE are off. I have no inside knowledge on the thinking of the Chinese, who hold the largest amount of US debt. But that country can’t be happy with what the Fed has done to its American investments. You’ll want to get out of this bubbly, soon-to-crash stock market a good day before this or any other sentiment-changing event happens. And good luck with that.

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BFW 10/31 06:27 MORE: Sony Cuts Forecasts on Weak Businesses, Maintains Yen View

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Sony Cuts Full-Year Forecasts After 1H Profits Miss Estimates 2013-10-31 06:03:55.365 GMT

By Kurt Schussler Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Lowers full-year net income target 40% to 30b yen; est. 50.5b yen. * Decreases oper. profit forecast 26% to 170b yen; est. 220.8b yen (21 analysts) * Sales view down 2.5% to 7.7t yen; est. 7.64t yen * For 2Q ended Sept. 30: * Net loss 19.3b yen; est. 14.8b yen profit * Oper. profit 14.8b yen; est. 55.5b yen (7 analysts) * Sales 1.78t yen; est. 1.8t yen * Table of 1H results, FY forecasts

Link to Company News:6758 JP <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: Kurt Schussler at +81-3-3201-2089 or kschussler1@bloomberg.net

BOJ Gov Kuroda: Overseas economies weaker than forecast in July - post rate decision press conference - Domestic banks are not facing funding problems in foreign currencies. - BoJ member Shirai proposed strressing more downside risks to economy.

SHCOMP -65bps after yday's rally, earnings contniued to weigh on index. PBOC conducted 16b yuan of 14-day reverse-repurchase contracts today at a yield of 4.3%, for the second time the central bank adding cash into system and making total injection of 29.1b yuan this week. as a result, we saw the 7-day repo rate down to the level around 5% in the month end today. {otc cny repo <go>}. Secondly, props +1.8% & cement +0.8% after President Xi Jinping stressed the need to accelerate the country's housing security and supply to guarantee people's basic residential needs. {NSN MVHO8U3V7U9S <go>} basically the govt will provide more supply instead of curbing demand for the new round of props control measures, and the market-oriented policies are supposed to benefit the sector.

In other news China’s top four banks posted their biggest increase in soured loans since at least 2010 as a five-year credit spree left companies with excess manufacturing capacity and slower profit growth amid an economic slowdown.

Rubber -1.3%, Rebar +35bps, Coke +50bps and Iron Ore +20bps. Copper -1%, all LME meetals down, Gold -65bps and Crude -30bps...all following what was taken to be a relatively hawish FOMC.

Miners looking up coming out of Australia, implied +50bps-1% this mostly as a result of news out of Aussie banks. The APRA letter, effectively warning banks to limit dividend payouts in order to meet adequate capital buffers, is resulting in switching from banks to resource names today. {http://www.afr.com/p/markets/investors_stand_by_bank_dividends_buO8xjmjDfmHBGhIFrnYEI}

Will be gtting numbers/production from Total, Shell, BG, GLEN and ANTO shortly.

Headlines (=)Copper: Codelco Seen Raising China Copper Premium to Nine-Year High (-)ENI: ENI REMOVED FROM CONVICTION BUY LIST AT MACQUARIE (+)CLN: CLARIANT RAISED TO HOLD VS SELL AT SOCGEN

Research (*)GS Iron Ore 50: Move to seaborne surplus from next year as key projects remain on schedule

Source: Bloomberg, Reuters Cleared for Distribution to Clients in EMEA and US

AfrenReports 9-months Pretax profit $128.6M v $122.8M y/y; Rev $1.20B v $1.11B y/y - 9-month production of 48,573 boepd (+18% year on year). - Raises FY13 production expected to be at the upper end of guidance (40,000 to 47,000 boepd).

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BN 10/31 06:58 *NH HOTELES TO SELL AS MUCH AS EU275M OF CONVERTIBLE BONDS

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NH Hoteles to Sell as Much as EU275m of Convertible Bonds 2013-10-31 07:02:40.350 GMT

By Ben Sills and Sharon Smyth Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Bonds can be converted into or exchanged for ordinary shares in NH, co. says in regulatory filing. * Barclays, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley joint bookrunners on deal * Banks taking orders now, expect to complete sale today * NH plans to use funds to repay March 2012 syndicated loan, help fund EU200m investment plan

Link to Company News:{NHH SM <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: Ben Sills at +34-91-700-9603 or bsills@bloomberg.net