LI FP - Klepierre : Stock strong today , bid rumour starts emerging on the back of the sector consolidation since the beginning of the year... High volume (from brokers)s
Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:
- GGG -10.9%, PII -7.3%, RMBS -6.7%, MET -6.3%, SMG -5.8%, HOG -5.3%, DHR -4.6%, JVA -4.1%, IDTI -3%, RGA -2.6%, SNHY -2.4%, (also commenced an underwritten public offering of 4 million shares of common stock), WERN -2.4%, AET -2.4%, SANM -2.3%, CVTI -1.8%, CNHI -1.8%, PFE -1.6%, EAT -1.6%, AOS -1.3%, PFG -0.7%
M&A news:
- MXIM -9.9% (Renesas (RNECF) spokesperson has denied reports that it is in talks to acquire MXIM)
Select Health/Ins provider related names showing weakness after JPM, AMZN and BRK.B healthcare partnership news:
- UNH -6.5%, CVS -5.7%, CI -5.3%, CNC -5.2%, ANTM -5.1%, MOH -4.1%
Other news:
- EARS -18.9% (entered into a securities purchase agreement with investors providing for the purchase and sale of 12,499,999 common shares at a price of $0.44 per share), UCTT -7.3% (commenced an underwritten public offering of approximately $100 mln of its common stock; intends to disclose in connection with the offering former shareholder dispute), VTGN -6.5% (Issues Letter to Stockholders as Company Prepares to Initiate AV-101 Phase 2 Study for Major Depressive Disorder ), PE -5.8% (Parsley Energy expects 4Q17 net production of 80-81 MBoe per day and 51-52 MBo per day), AMRN -5.7% (commences offering of ADS), SLNO -2.8% (files for 14,165,541 share common stock offering by stockholders including 6,024,425 warrant shares that may be purchased upon exercise of issued and outstanding warrants), ITUS -2.7% (after making notable pull back - down 30% on Monday), GPOR -2.2% (provides Q4 update; budgets 2018 CapEx of $770-835 mln and approves $100 mln stock repurchase program ), CBAY -1.7% (commences underwritten public offering of common stock), .
Analyst comments:
- GRUB -3% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays)
- SWN -1.7% (downgraded to Underperform from Mkt Perform at Raymond James)
- LUV -1.6% (downgraded to at )
- X -1.6% (initiated with a Sell at Vertical Group)
- HZN -1.5% (downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Markets)
- ALK -1.4% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan)
- CL -1.1% (downgraded to Underperform from Outperform at Exane BNP Paribas)
Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:
- HA +5.1%, FBR +2.6%, ORIT +2.5%, SGRY +2.3%, (Surgery Partners CFO Teresa Sparks is stepping down to pursue other opportunities; co also reaffirmed guidance at the upper half of the range for 2017 revs and Adj. EBITDA ), REV +1.8%, (Fabian Garcia steps down as President and CEO ), PHM +0.9%
M&A news:
- CALD +10.9% (to be acquired by SAP for $36.00 per share)
Other news:
- IMMY +47.6% (Imprimis Pharmaceuticals now making available two glaucoma drugs on FDA's drug shortage list), CRBP +11.9% (Corbus Pharma reaches agreement w/ the FDA regarding the design of its next study of lenabasum in the treatment of cystic fibrosis ), PTI +8.8% (still checking), GNBC +6.4% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), EXTR +6.2% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), GERN +6% (continued strength), DFFN +4.3% (doses the first patient in the Phase 3 clinical trial with trans sodium crocetinate in patients with newly-diagnosed inoperable glioblastoma multiforme), AR +4.1% (to evaluate various potential measures to address the discount in trading value of Antero's stock relative to some of the premier U.S. large capitalization upstream independents ), SMRT +4.1% (assembles team to improve performance and explore strategic alternatives ), PMT +4% (to join S&P SmallCap 600)
Analyst comments:
- GSS +8.7% (initiated with a Outperform at National Bank Financial)
- JBLU +1.5% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan)
- UAL +1.4% (upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan)
Early premarket gappersGapping up:
- CALD +10.2%, PTI +8.8%, GNBC +7.1%, EXTR +6.3%, DFFN +5.8%, HA +5.1%, AR +4.1%, SMRT +4.1%, PMT +4%, GERN +3.8%, CRBP +2.7%, ORIT +2.5%, SGRY +2.3%, FBR +2.1%, REV +1.8%, OCLR +1.2%, ACIA +1%, PHM +0.9%, AMZN +0.6%
Gapping down:
- EARS -21%, GGG -12%, MXIM -11.1%, MET -7.4%, UCTT -7.3%, UNH -7.2%, HOG -7.2%, ANTM -7%, SLNO -6.7%, RMBS -6.7%, AMRN -6.5%, CNC -5.6%, CI -5.6%, PII -5.4%, VTGN -5.2%, CIFS -4.6%, JVA -4.1%, CBAY -3.9%, SMG -3.9%, AET -3.7%, ITUS -3.4%, IDTI -3.1%, PE -3%, IMMR -2.5%, WERN -2.4%, SANM -2.3%, MOH -2%, CVTI -1.8%, EAT -1.6%, PFE -1.5%, SNHY -1.4%, GPOR -1%, PFG -0.7%, XXII -0.6%, WDC -0.5%
Flash-crash trader helps US in fight against market abuse
Briton in spoofing case co-operates with prosecutors in plea deal
Navinder Singh Sarao, the UK day trader guilty of “spoofing” stock index futures, has helped US prosecutors build a case in a broadening crackdown on market abuse.
Criminal spoofing charges unsealed on Monday against Jitesh Thakkar, a technology consultant in Illinois, cite information obtained by a “Trader #1”. The unnamed trader was Sarao, a person close to the matter and court filings said.
Sarao pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of wire fraud and one of spoofing, a tactic of misleading other traders by rapidly entering and cancelling orders. He pledged to co-operate with authorities as part of his plea agreement.
The case against Mr Thakkar was announced alongside several other criminal spoofing charges in what the US justice department called its largest futures market criminal enforcement action. He was the only vendor to the futures industry to be charged, not a trader.
Sarao has not yet been sentenced. An affidavit filed in the Thakkar case said his co-operation with prosecutors could lead to a reduced sentence.
Prosecutors labelled Mr Thakkar a co-conspirator for developing a trading program that enabled Trader #1 to spoof the e-mini S&P 500 futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
In a separate civil action, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Mr Thakkar with “aiding and abetting spoofing and a manipulative and deceptive scheme” with a Trader A in the same futures contract.
James McDonald, the CFTC enforcement director, said: “In its effort to root out spoofing from our markets, the CFTC will work vigorously to hold accountable not only the individuals who engage in the spoofing, but also those who produce and sell the tools designed to spoof.”
Mr Thakkar was arrested by law enforcement authorities Monday and could not be reached for comment. Sarao’s lawyer did not immediately respond for comment.
Mr Thakkar’s company, Edge Financial Technologies of Chicago, builds trading algorithms, high-speed trading platforms and “kill switches” for traders, among other products, according to its website. He served on a CFTC technology advisory committee from 2012 to 2014, the website said before his biographical page disappeared late on Monday.
But between October 2011 and April 2015, federal authorities allege that Mr Thakkar was also conspiring with the trader to spoof the e-mini S&P market, according to the criminal complaint.
The civil complaint against Mr Thakkar said he began working with Trader A after an October 12, 2011 email communication. The language of the communication is identical to an email from the same date between Thakkar and Sarao, which the CFTC had previously filed in its case against Sarao.
The criminal complaint against Mr Thakkar said his co-conspirator was a futures trader who lived in the UK and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of spoofing on November 9, 2016 — all facts that are unique to Sarao.
Authorities had blamed Sarao’s aggressive trading for contributing to the 2010 “flash crash,” when US stock indices inexplicably plunged one afternoon. This week’s court filings indicate Mr Thakkar and Sarao began working together more than a year later.
Scoop: Apple delays iOS features to focus on reliability, performance
Apple has shaken up its iOS software plans for 2018, delaying some features to next year in an effort to put more focus on addressing performance and quality issues, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Apple has been criticized of late, both for security issues and for a number of quality issues, as well as for how it handles battery issues on older devices.
Software head Craig Federighi announced the revised plan to employees at a meeting earlier this month, shortly before he and some top lieutenants headed to a company offsite.
On the cutting board: Pushed into 2019 are a number of features including a refresh of the home screen and in-car user interfaces, improvements to core apps like mail and updates to the picture-taking, photo editing and sharing experiences.
What made it: There will be some new features, of course, including improvements in augmented reality, digital health and parental controls. In addition, Apple is prioritizing work to make iPhones more responsive and less prone to cause customer support issues.
But, but but: While a renewed focus on quality and performance might ease some outside criticism, some inside the team question whether the approach will actual lead to higher quality. Plus, customers tend to pay for features more than security and reliability, which are tough to assess at the time of purchase.
Apple declined to comment.
Corning beats by $0.02, beats on revs (34.23)
Reports Q4 (Dec) core earnings of $0.49 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.47; core (non-GAAP) revenues rose 7.4% year/year to $2.74 bln vs the $2.65 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
"We exited the year running at full capacity in several of our businesses and with committed customer demand that supports our current capacity-expansion initiatives. We expect to see the benefits of these initiatives in the second half of 2018 and beyond as production ramps...2018 will be another year of strong growth and investment, consistent with our Strategy & Capital Allocation Framework. We feel great about our progress and prospects."
For 2018, co expects LCD glass market growth to be in the mid- single digit percentages, similar to 2017, as screen size growth continues. Co expects its volume to grow faster than the market as Corning supports the ramp-up of the world's first Gen 10.5 fab. The improvements in LCD glass pricing are expected to continue in 2018, with full-year price declines expected to reach the mid-single digit percentages
Healthcare providers react to news that JPM, AMZN, and BRK.A are entering the space; UNH -4.2%, ANTM -3.9%, AET -2.9% (also earnings at 6:35), CNC -2.1%, MOH -2.0%, CI -0.9%
Shire plc enters into agreement for development and commercialization of AB Biosciences’ PRIM program for potential treatment of autoimmune diseases and other immune-mediated disorders (146.93)
- Cos announced that they have entered into an agreement granting Shire an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize AB Biosciences' pan receptor interacting molecule program, which uses AB Biosciences' proprietary oligomeric Fc technology platform. PRIM, a recombinant immunoglobulin product candidate, has shown encouraging preclinical data, including enhanced biological activity relative to currently approved intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapies, in preclinical models of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.