>>> US After Hours Summary: MXWL +16.5%, EXPE +8.3%, AMGN +1.9%,

After Hours Summary: MXWL +16.5%, EXPE +8.3%, AMGN +1.9%, OCLS -17.0%, FLR -7.5%, FEYE -5.2% following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: MXWL +15.3%, YRCW +16.2%, COLM +11%, SKYW +10.8%, HTCH +10.3%, NSU +9.3%, ZLTQ +9%, ATEN +8.7%, CRAY +8.5%, EXPE +8.3%, SAND +7.8%, ELLI +7%, FRGI +6.4%, NGVC +6.3%, FIX +6.2%, CVEO +6%, IMMR +5.8%, PXLW +5.5%, DGI +5%, BCOR +3.4%, TNDM +3.1%, TPX +2.3%, AMGN +1.9%, UHS +1.8%, WU +1.7%, CATM +1.2%, RGC +1%, GMED +0.5%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: MXWL +15.3% (selected as exclusive capacitive energy storage supplier by subsidiary of China's largest rail company, CRRC Corp; co also reported earnings), CCE +9.6% (strength attributed to WSJ report that co is in advanced talks to combine with other bottling companies), BCOR +3.4% (signed a three-year search and advertising deal to distribute Bing results through the Infospace network; co also reported earnings), TNDM +3.1% (entered into a non-exclusive Development Agreements with Dexcom (DXCM), to integrate future generation Tandem insulin pumps with the Dexcom G5 and G6 products; co also reported earnings), ENH +2.7% (to replace TMST in the S&P MidCap 400), JUNO +2.3% (announced FDA clearance of its investigational new drug application regarding JCAR015 for the treatment of adult relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia), IDI +1.4% (Mitchell P. Kopin disclosed 8.2% passive stake in 13G filing), EVAR +1.3% (announced acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Altura Medical), SALT +1.1% (10.31% stakeholder Monarch Alternative Capital issues letter to Board; believes co should resume its asset sale program and use the proceeds to buy back stock)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: OCLS -17.0%, OMCL -16%, CPSI -11.9%, SYNA -11.7%, SZYM -10.9%, OCN -10.7%, OUTR -9.2%, HBI -8.6%, QLGC -7.7%, TSYS -7.6%, VVUS -7.5%, FLR -7.5%, COHR -6.4%, FEYE -5.2%, SAM -5.1%, LNKD -4.2%, CHEF -3.8%, BCOV -3.7%, EA -2.9%, MTD -2.8%, COHU -2.1%, MERC -1.9%, CALD -1.6%, KLAC -1.6%, TNAV -1.3%, AMCC -1.1%,

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: MILL -29.2% (NYSE to commence delisting proceedings; co expects to have delisting decision reviewed by the Board of Directors of the NYSE), FLR -7.5% (announced agreement to divest 50% of its shares in Fluor S.A, to a leading multinational Spanish construction company for EUR 39 mln; filed for mixed securities shelf offering; co also reported earnings), RAS -4.6% (commenced an underwritten public offering of 8 mln common shares), Q -1.1% (launched a 7 mln share secondary offering of common stock, by stockholders that include Bain Capital Investors)

>>> US Close Dow-0.03% S&P+0.01% Nasdaq+0.33% Russell+0.18%

Closing Market Summary: S&P 500 Ekes Out Slim Gain While Nasdaq Ends Ahead

The stock market ended the Thursday session on a slightly higher note after rebounding off its opening low. The S&P 500 settled just above its flat line while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) outperformed.

Equity indices faced some early weakness after the overnight session saw renewed selling in China that sent the Shanghai Composite lower by 2.2%. Furthermore, equity futures dropped to new lows ahead of the opening bell after the advance reading of Q2 GDP pointed to an expansion of 2.3%, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 2.5%. Meanwhile, the first quarter reading was revised up to 0.6% from -0.2%.

This morning's GDP report was met with a rally in the Treasury market as the 10-yr note spiked off its low and continued advancing into the afternoon, dropping its yield three basis points to 2.26%.

Six sectors registered gains with the rate-sensitive utilities sector (+0.7%) holding the lead throughout the day. The sector extended its weekly gain to 2.9%, benefiting from today's decline in yields. Elsewhere among countercyclical groups, telecom services (+0.3%) settled in the green while health care (-0.2%) and consumer staples (-0.3%) registered modest losses.

Notably, the staples sector was pressured by Procter & Gamble (PG 77.44, -3.18) as the Dow component retreated 3.9% despite reporting better than expected results. For its part, the health care sector registered a slim loss after 50 sector components reported earnings. AstraZeneca (AZN 33.74, +0.73) climbed 2.2% in reaction to a bottom-line beat while Cigna (CI 143.90, -1.51) lost 1.0% despite beating earnings expectations. As for biotechnology, the high-beta industry group struggled early, but iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 378.96, +1.53) ended higher by 0.4%.

Staying on the high-beta theme, chipmakers helped the technology sector (+0.1%) erase its early loss, which also lifted the Nasdaq Composite. NXP Semiconductor (97.87, +6.07) was a standout performer, surging 6.6% in reaction to a bottom-line beat on cautious guidance. Meanwhile, the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index climbed 0.4%.

Similar to technology, consumer discretionary (+0.3%), financials (+0.1%), and materials (+0.5%) posted gains while other growth-sensitive groups ended in the red. The energy sector (-0.6%) finished at the bottom of the leaderboard after several sector components reported earnings. Marathon Petroleum (MPC 53.94, -1.87) gave up 3.4% in reaction to disappointing results while ConocoPhillips (COP 52.07, -0.83) lost 1.6% despite delivering a bottom-line beat. On the upside, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A 57.37, +1.97) jumped 3.6% after reporting better than expected results and announcing plans to cut costs.

Today's participation was a bit below totals registered earlier in the week as 770 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data reported today included Q2 GDP and Initial Claims:
  • GDP increased 2.3% in the advance estimate of for the second quarter, up from an upwardly revised 0.6% (from -0.2%) increase in Q1 2015 while the consensus expected an increase of 2.5% 
    • Real final sales, which exclude inventories, rose 2.4% in the second quarter, up a 0.2% decline in the first quarter 
    • Almost the entire increase in GDP was the result of a 2.9% increase in real personal consumption spending, which contributed 2.0 percentage points to second quarter growth 
    • Goods spending increased 4.8% after increasing 1.1% in the first quarter. That was the strongest increase in goods spending since a 6.7% gain in Q2 2014 
    • Services spending increased 2.1% for a second consecutive quarter 
  • The weekly initial claims level increased to 267,000 from an unrevised 255,000 while the consensus expected an increase to 272,000 
    • The four-week moving average dropped to 275,000 from 278,000, signaling a labor market that is nearing full employment 
    • The continuing claims level increased to 2.262 mln for the week ending July 18 from an upwardly revised 2.216 mln (from 2.207 mln) for the week ending July 11 while the consensus expected a decrease to 2.200 mln 
Tomorrow, the Q2 Employment Cost Index will be released at 8:30 ET (consensus 0.6%) while the Chicago PMI for July (consensus 50.5) will be reported at 9:45 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of the final reading of the Michigan Sentiment index for July (consensus 94.0).
  • Nasdaq Composite +8.3% YTD 
  • S&P 500 +2.4% YTD 
  • Russell 2000 +2.2% YTD 
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.4% YTD

(BFW) OHL Aims to Raise Up to EU1B With Capital Increase

BN 07/30 16:52 *OHL AIMS TO RAISE UP TO EU1B IN CAPITAL
BN 07/30 16:50 *OHL TO PROPOSE CAPITAL INCREASE
OHL Aims to Raise Up to EU1B With Capital Increase
2015-07-30 17:02:53.994 GMT


By Charles Penty
(Bloomberg) -- OHL calls extraordinary shareholder meeting
for Sept. 7 or 8, co. says in regulatory filing.

* Co. proposes capital increase up to EU1b, 1.67b shrs
* Funds to be used to strengthen capital structure under 2020
strategic plan
* Funds to be used to reduce net debt with recourse (~EU650m);
invest in developing new concessions awarded to co. outside
Mexico (~EU350m)
* Villar Mir group to commits to subscribe enough shares so
that it holds more than 50% of co. after capital increase
* For link to statement: Link
Link to Company News:{OHL 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:
Charles Penty at +34-91-700-9654 or
cpenty@bloomberg.net

(BFW) Intercontinental Hotels Says Not in M&A Talks With Starwood

BN 07/30 16:46 *INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS IHG STATEMENT RE RECENT PRESS
Intercontinental Hotels Says Not in M&A Talks With Starwood
2015-07-30 16:49:54.966 GMT


By Gaurav Panchal
(Bloomberg) -- InterContinental Hotels board says it is not
in talks with Starwood with a view to a combination of the
businesses.

* Statement: Link
* Earlier: Starwood Said to Have Reached Out to IHG, Wyndham:
Reuters Link
* InterContinental, Starwood Said to Have Held Merger
Talks: FT Link

Link to Company News:{IHG LN <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{HOT 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:
Gaurav Panchal at +44-20-3525-0511 or
gpanchal2@bloomberg.net

FT : IMF cannot join Greek rescue, board told



The International Monetary Fund’s board has been told Athens’ high debt levels and poor record of implementing reforms disqualify Greece from a third IMF bailout of the country, raising new questions over whether the institution will join the EU’s latest financial rescue.

The determination, presented by IMF staff at a two-hour board meeting Wednesday, means that while IMF staff will participate in bailout negotiations currently under way in Athens, the Fund will not decide whether to agree a new programme for months – potentially into next year.


That delay could have significant repercussions – particularly n Germany, where officials have long said it would be impossible to win Bundestag approval for the new €86bn bailout without the IMF on board.

According to a four-page “strictly confidential” summary of Wednesday’s board meeting obtained by the Financial Times, IMF negotiators will “participate in policy discussions” to ensure the eurozone’s new bailout “is consistent with what the Fund has in mind”.

But they “cannot reach staff level agreement at this stage.” The Fund will only decide whether to participate during a “stage two” after Greece has “agreed on a comprehensive set of reforms” and, crucially, after eurozone bailout lenders have “agreed on debt relief”.

That condition could prove a sticking point since Berlin and other creditor governments have so far strongly resisted any suggestion of forgiving Greece’s debts.

According to the summary, Germany’s representative to the IMF board said Berlin “would have preferred the Fund . . . move in parallel” with the eurozone bailout talks. Instead, it now faces the prospect of trying to move an €86bn bailout through a sceptical Bundestag in a matter of weeks without the IMF’s imprimatur.

The IMF’s assessment adds another source of complexity just as Athens and its bailout monitors begin discussions in earnest in an attempt to conclude a deal before a tight August 20 deadline. While the creditors’ harbour misgivings, Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, is also facing a mutiny from leftwing members of his Syriza party unhappy with the conditions attached to the bailout.

The IMF decided last week that its existing bailout programme, which was originally to run until March, needed to be scrapped because it could no longer achieve its stated goal of helping Greece recover to the point where it could return to private debt markets. The IMF then forced Athens to request a new IMF programme, which requires board approval, necessitating Wednesday’s meeting.

Some Greek officials suspect the IMF and Wolfgang Schäuble, the hardline German finance minister, are determined to scupper a Greek rescue despite this month’s agreement to move forward with a third bailout.

In a once-private teleconference made public this week, Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister, said he feared the Greek government would pass new rounds of economic reforms only for the IMF to pull the plug on the programme later this year.

“According to its own rules, the IMF cannot participate in any new bailout. I mean, they’ve already violated their rules twice to do so, but I don’t think they will do it a third time,” Mr Varoufakis said. “Dr Schäuble and the IMF have a common interest: they don’t want this deal to go ahead.”

Senior EU officials have insisted Christine Lagarde, the IMF managing director, signalled her willingness to participate in a new bailout at the high-stakes summit that agreed the new rescue earlier this month.

But Greece has become a growing source of rancour within the Fund and among its shareholders. People who have spoken with senior IMF officials said Ms Lagarde is facing a unified staff view that the Fund’s reputation is on the line and that it cannot agree to a new programme without significant changes.

According to the board minutes, several non-European board members – including from Asia, Brazil and Canada – warned about the need to “protect the reputation of the Fund”, and the document says Ms Lagarde acknowledged their concerns.

“[Ms Lagarde] stressed that in their engagement they have to be mindful about the reputation of the Fund,” the summary says.

According to the summary, IMF staff concluded Greece no longer clears two of the four requirements in the IMF’s “exceptional access criteria” – the Fund framework that allows it to grant bailouts of larger-than-normal size.

Under the criteria, a bailout recipient must be able to prove it has the “institutional and political capacity” to implement economic reforms, and that “there is a high probability that the member’s public debt is sustainable in the medium term”.

IMF staff determined that neither criterion has been met – and they would not know whether Athens would meet those benchmarks until the autumn.

“Greece wants to decide on some important reforms only in the fall and the Europeans only want to deal with the debt issue after the first review because they first want to rebuild trust,” the summary states. “The differences between the IMF’s thinking about the debt issue and what the Europeans are currently discussing are very large.”

At the early stages of the Greek crisis, the IMF waved the debt criteria because of rules allowing it to grant a bailout if there was “a high risk of international systemic spillover”. But IMF staff told the board this risk no longer existed because a Greek default would no longer hurt private bondholders, who now own a very small share of Greek debt.

“In 2010, the systemic waiver was applied as a restructuring of the debt in hands of the private creditors was needed to restore debt sustainability, which could have caused major contagion,” the minutes state. “Currently, a restructuring of official debt is required and staff could think only of a few instances in which public debt restructuring could create contagion.”

(FTI) IHG and Starwood have held early deal talks

IHG and Starwood have held early deal talks
2015-07-30 13:23:16.193 GMT


Arash Massoudi and Malcolm Moore in London and James
Fontanella-Kahn in New York
July 30 (Financial Times) -- InterContinental Hotels has
held early stage talks with Starwood Hotels & Resorts over a
union to create the world's largest hotel group, ...

The full story is available on Bloomberg to Financial Times
corporate subscribers. <a href="entreq:43358">Click here</a> to receive details on pricing.

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: SSYS -21.2%, WFM -13.5%, QRVO -13.4%, FMI -13%, FOE -12.1%, LOCK -9.5%, LINE -8.2%, THRM -6.8%, CAVM -6.3%, VAR -5.4%, PEIX -4.8%, WLL -4.2%, IXYS -4%, SPRT -3.6%, WPRT -3.5%, ORC -3.1%, LQ -2.8%, FB -2.6%, FISV -2.2%, ARII -2%, HLS -1.9%, TTEK -1.9%, AAC -1.7%, (issues a response to a grand jury indictment, related to its investigation by the California Department of Justice), STFC -1.7%, YNDX -1.4%, NOW -1.3%, AMC -1.2%, MTGE -1.1%, CMPR -1.1%, CMO -1%, CLD -0.9%, MAR -0.8%, TWC -0.8%

M&A news: NCR -6.2% (PE firm Thoma Bravo will end efforts to buyout NCR, according to NY Post)

Select metals/mining stocks trading lower: AU -3.2%, GFI -2.9%, GDX -2.4%, ABX -2.2%, PAAS -1.7%, GOLD -1.6%, AG -1.6%, MT -1.5%, NEM -1.5%, GG -1.4%

Other news: GNCA +-8.2% ( announces a public offering of common stock; size and terms not disclosed), DDD +-5.9% (in symp with SSYS earnings), NVIV +-3.7% (disclosed entry into a Sales Agreement with Cowen to sell up to $50 mln shares of its common stock), AAC +-1.7% (issued a response to a grand jury indictment, related to its investigation by the California Department of Justice; co also reported earnings), AMAG +-1.5% (announced a public offering of $200 mln of common stock), CP +-1.3% (announced $800 mln debt offering)

Analyst comments: GRMN -1.5% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: LPSN +16.7%, WSTL +15.8%, FORM +10.9%, SKX +10.6%, HOLX +9.1%, VNDA +8.7%, OTEX +8.5%, PEGA +7.3%, NTRI +7.2%, ANIK +6.7%, TER +6.7%, RKUS +6.6%, NOK +6.5%, WDC +6.3%, ALU +5.9%, EPE +5.6%, HDSN +5.5%, APD +5.1%, CWST +4.9%, NE +4.7%, PPC +4.4%, NXPI +4.3%, RDS.A +4.1%, EROC+3.9%, SSNC +3.8%, KGC +3.4%, ATNI +3.1%, DEPO +2.8%, (also DepoMed announces Board rejection of the revised, highly conditional, unsolicited and non-binding proposal from Horizon Pharma), VRTX +2.3%, ARR +2.2%, SWK +2.2%, WYNN +2.1%, PODD +1.9%, SCTY +1.7%, SC +1.6%, ORLY +1.4%, CI +1.4%, INUV +1.3%, SU +1.2%, WMGI +1%, EURN +1%,NICE +1%, EHTH +0.9%, POT +0.9%

Select oil/gas related names showing strength: TOT +1.7%, BP +1.6%, STO +1.3%

Other news: UNIS +28.9% (announced the introduction of the Imperium platform of instant patch pumps for insulin; announced $45 mln equity purchase agreement with Lincoln Park Capital and $25 mln at-the-market facility with Cantor Fitzgerald), SGYP +21.2% (announces positive top-line results from its pivotal phase 3 clinical trial, evaluating the efficacy and safety of two different plecanatide treatment doses), ASND +16.3% (announces positive top-line results from its Phase 2 pediatric study of its TransCon Growth Hormone), IMNP +5.5% ( announces securing up to $21.5 million through two financing agreements), PPC +4.4% (announced Board approval for a new $150 million share repurchase program; co also reported earnings), BDBD +4.2% (Engaged Capital discloses 9.6% active stake in 13D filing; has engaged with management), LDOS +3.1% (late move higher on potential Pentagon contract win), EXPR +3% (to replace Associated Estates Realty (AEC) in the S&P SmallCap 600), X +3% (cont strength), DEPO +2% (announced Board rejection of the revised, unsolicited and non-binding proposal from Horizon Pharma; co also reported earnings), JBL +1.5% ( announces Board authorization for up to $100 million in share repurchases), GLPG +1.4% (co's selective JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib meets key efficacy endpoints, shows ACR70 responses up to 39%, and maintains safety profile after 24 weeks of treatment in DARWIN 1 Phase 2B study), BIDU +1.2% (announces $1 bln share repurchase program over the next 12 months), CS +1.1% (in symp with DB results)

Analyst comments: AKS +5.2% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan), ANGI +3.2% (upgraded to Market Perform from Under Perform at Northland Capital), LUV +1.4% (upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan), ORCL +0.8% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)