Among the stocks to watch in Monday's session are US Ecology
Inc. (ECOL) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW).
US Ecology again raised its earnings guidance for the year,
pointing to strong volumes and accelerated project shipments, but
warned its results for next year may take a hit as a result. The
company, which provides waste- management and recycling services,
also outlined plans to offer about $100 million in stock. Shares
dropped 10% to $34.51 premarket.
Dow Chemical said it is exploring a possible sale or spinoff of
its commodity chemicals businesses, in a continuation of the
chemical company's push to refocus its efforts. The assets include
about 40 manufacturing facilities at 11 sites and nearly 2,000
employees, accounting for up to $5 billion in annual revenue.
Shares edged up 1.3% to $39.55 premarket.
Watch List:
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) agreed to buy Prolexic
Technologies Inc. for about $370 million in cash, expanding its
cybersecurity offerings. Prolexic, a provider of cloud-based
security services for protecting data centers and Internet Protocol
applications from distributed denial of service attacks, will be
added to Akamai's services for defending Web sites and Web
applications.
With Cyber Monday sales kicking off, observers will be looking
for indications about how well Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) does in
fending off increased online competition from its traditionally
brick-and-mortar rivals.
Meanwhile, retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) said it had
its "most successful" Black Friday yet, a day after it had
experienced technical issues on its website Thursday due to high
volume. Rival Target Corp. (TGT) also reported strong traffic.
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) said it reached a settlement with
Freddie Mac (FMCC) to resolve claims stemming from residential
mortgage loans the bank sold to Freddie. The bank plans to pay
Freddie Mac about $404 million to resolve all outstanding and
potential mortgage repurchase and other claims related to loans
sold to Freddie from 2000 to 2009.
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) said the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration pushed back the date for potential approval of its
treatment for hemophilia B by three months to allow more time to
review information the regulator had requested regarding a
manufacturing step. The investigational treatment -- called
Alprolix -- is a long-lasting clotting factor in late-stage
clinical development.
Calpine Corp. (CPN) agreed to buy a gas-fired, 1,050-megawatt
power plant in Texas for $625 million, as part of the wholesale
power company's effort to increase its presence in the Texas
market. Calpine is purchasing the plant from MinnTex Power Holdings
LLC, a portfolio company owned by a private investment fund managed
by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC.
Giant Interactive Group Inc. (GA) named three of its directors
to a special committee intended to review a nonbinding proposal to
take the online-game company private. Last week, investors
including former chief executive Chairman Yuzhu Shi and Baring
Private Equity Asia offered to acquire the stake they don't already
own for $11.75 a share.
Hess Corp. (HES) agreed to sell its Indonesian interests for
$1.3 billion in cash to fund its share-repurchase program, the
latest in the company's plan to shed assets. The oil and gas
company is selling its Pangkah and Natuna A assets -- which
produced a combined 15,000 barrels of oil a day in the first three
quarters of this year -- to Indonesian oil companies PT Pertamina
(Persero) and PTT Exploration & Production Co.
Osiris Therapeutics Inc. (OSIR) said Friday a proposed ruling
from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services won't
immediately affect reimbursements for its Grafix stem-cell product.
The regenerative medicine company said Grafix will maintain its
current reimbursement status -- also called transitional
pass-through status -- potentially through late 2015.
Activist investor Starboard Value L.P. nominated its own slate
of six candidates to TriQuint Semiconductor Inc.'s (TQNT) board,
claiming significant changes are needed to turn around the chip
maker's "prolonged underperformance."
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) projected 2014 earnings and
revenue below analysts expectations ahead of its annual investor
conference in New York. The managed-care provider in October had
said the planned reductions in government funding for Medicare
Advantage and other provisions of the health law would affect its
2014 earnings.
Write to Lauren Pollock at lauren.pollock@wsj.com
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