Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day -- it's a look at everything happening in the market, in
five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email
minutes@benzinga.com.
Macro Focus
U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 72 points to
18,044.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 9.50 points to 2,128.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 15
points to 4,798.50.
Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 1.70 percent to trade at $45.80 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures
also fell 1.53 percent to trade at $43.84 a barrel.
- The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
- The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.
- The Treasury International Capital data for July will be released at 4:00 p.m. ET.
BZ News Desk Focus
-
Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) Reported Q1 EPS $0.55
vs. Est. $0.58, Rev. $8.6B vs. Est. $8.7B
-
S&W Seed (NASDAQ: SANW) Reports Q4
non-GAAP EPS $.08 vs $0.06 Est, Sales $34.6M vs $33.72M Est
-
Benchmark Electronics (NYSE: BHE)
Reaffirms Q3 Adj. EPS $0.33-$0.38 vs $0.35 Est., Sales $570M-$600M vs $584.2M Est.
Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) plummeted
more than 85
percent in Thursday’s after-hours session, after reporting disappointing results from two Phase 3 vaccine trials that had
previously done well in the Phase 2 trial. Data from the Resolve Phase 3 trial for its vaccine for a potentially deadly respiratory
virus didn't meet the efficacy objectives it had set.
Sell-Side Themes
Cowen downgraded Raptor Pharma and Horizon Pharma to Market Perform.
Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls
- Bernstein downgraded Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) to Market Perform.
- Atlantic Equites downgraded Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to Underweight.
- Goldman Sachs downgraded Citigroup (NYSE: C) to Neutral.
- Goldman Sachs upgraded Comerica (NYSE: CMA) to Buy.
- Bank of America upgraded Statoil (NYSE: STO) to Buy.
- Credit Suisse started Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM) at Underpeform.
- Bank of America started GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) at Buy.
Deal Talk
Depomed (NASDAQ: DEPO) is preparing to
put itself up for sale, following calls from activist investor Starboard Value LP to explore such a move, just a year after it
fought off a hostile acquisition bid, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Negotiations with potential buyers are expected
to kick off shortly after Depomed receives a court decision clarifying the patent exclusivity of its biggest drug, Nucynta, an
opiate used to treat severe, often chronic pain, the people said. The ruling is expected by the end of the month.
TheDeal.com reported that CIBER (NYSE: CBR)
is in late-stage talks to sell itself. The IT company has recently received approaches from potential strategic, private equity
buyers with a bid of Up to $3.50 per share, sources said. CIBER is said to have hired an investment bank to handle takeover
approaches. CIBER closed at $1.36, up 11.43 percent.
In The News
The U.S. Justice Department proposed that Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) pay $14 billion to settle a set of high-profile mortgage-securities probes stemming
from the financial crisis, according to people familiar with the matter, a number that would rank among the largest of what other
banks have paid to resolve similar claims and is well above what investors have been expecting.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating why Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) hasn’t written down the value of its assets, two years into a pronounced crash in
oil prices. Schneiderman’s office, which has been probing Exxon’s past knowledge of the impact of climate change and how it could
affect its future business, is also examining the company’s accounting practices, according to people familiar with the matter.
Blogosphere
Complete the
sentence: If markets are efficient how come....
Trending
NVAX GPRO DB ORCL BIDU PGNX VIP BCS JBLU SRPT PII V XOM
#TNF Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) livestreamed its
first NFL game on Thursday night, with the New York Jets defeating the Buffalo Bills 37-31. One user told Benzinga, "Looking great,
no issues. Runs 34-38 seconds behind FiOS TV broadcast, but that's not really important to me."
- The U.S. government has asked this company to pay a fine of $14 billion.
- One year ago this stock was more than double what it is today.
- Sympathy plays include JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).
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