Anderson proposes $48M buyout to take Books-A-Million private

Tallahassee, FL 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Books-A-Million Inc.’s (Nasdaq: BAMM) majority owner and chairman today announced a plan to acquire the public books retail giant for roughly $48.8 million and take it private.

Clyde B. Anderson, whose family owns about 53 percent of the Birmingham-based company’s common stock, would pay $3.05 per share at a 20 percent premium, he said in a release today.

If the Books-A-Million board gives its approval, the Anderson family will merge the company with a newly formed acquisition entity and retain the current management, the release says.

The offer comes at a low point for the company’s stocks and sales, which haveslumped as new technology continues to displace traditional books in public favor.

The merger would take yet another public company headquarters from Birmingham, which is currently home to 14, according to the BBJ's 2012 Book of Lists. Vulcan Materials Co. (NYSE: VMC), one of Birmingham's largest public companies, is facing a takeover.

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Warner Chilcott (Nasdaq: WCRX) rallies on buyout talk

Tallahassee, FL 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Warner Chilcott PLC (Nasdaq: WCRX) confirmed Monday that its board is taking part in talks with parties that may be interested in buying the company.

The news sent the Irish drugmaker's shares up more than 20 percent in heavy morning trading, after being halted in the premarket.

Warner Chilcott said that the talks are part of its plan to explore a broad range of strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including a possible sale. It emphasized that the talks are in the early stages and may or may not lead to an offer.

Warner Chilcott said it doesn't plan to disclose further developments until its board approves a specific course of action, or it decides that it needs to make additional disclosures.

The company said in February that its fourth-quarter profit surged more than fivefold to $90.3 million as its acquisition and interest costs decreased. It also is in the process of restructuring its Western European business and expects that to be completed this year. The company focuses on women's health care, gastroenterology and dermatology.

Warner Chilcott shares rose $3.61, or 19 percent, to $22.40, after peaking at $23.28 earlier in the day. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $12.90 and $25.92.

Since the beginning of this year, Warner Chilcott shares have gained about 48 percent.

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Harman (NYSE: HAR) Rises Most in Six Months After Profit Beats Estimates

Orlando, FL 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Harman International Industries Inc. (NYSE: HAR) rose the most in six months after the maker of car audio systems reported third-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ estimates and announced a record-high $2 billion contract.

The shares gained 10 percent to $52.04 at 10:22 a.m. in New York, after advancing 11 percent for the biggest intraday increase since Oct. 21. They rose 27 percent this year before today after falling 18 percent during all of 2011.

Quarterly profit excluding a tax-related gain and costs for restructuring was 74 cents a share, compared with the 67-cent average of three analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company in a statement today also said it won the contract from an automaker it didn’t identify for systems that provide in-car information and entertainment.

Net income in the quarter ended March 31 more than quadrupled to $172.7 million, or $2.38 a share, from $36.6 million, or 51 cents, a year earlier, Harman said. Revenue rose 16 percent to $1.1 billion, helped by a 15 percent gain in sales of so-called infotainment systems, which connect vehicles to the Internet.

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CEL-SCI Corporation (AMEX: CVM), Tucows (AMEX: TCX) Among Stocks Gapping Up Monday

Orlando, FL 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- These are stocks that gapped up today and had open prices higher than the close on the previous trading day:

• CEL-SCI Corporation (AMEX: CVM: 0.50, +0.03, +5.39%) gapped up today, opening at 52 cents after closing the previous trading session at 47 cents. Trading at a volume of 754,161, the stock price is up 8.5%. The stock is trading 15% above its 50-day moving average and 25.1% above its 200-day moving average.

• Tucows (AMEX: TCX: 1.43, +0.17, +13.49%) closed the previous trading session at $1.27, gapping up to open at $1.41 today. While trading at a volume of 249,079, the stock price has risen 11.8%. The stock is trading 18.5% above its 50-day moving average and 35.3% above its 200-day moving average.

• Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PPHM: 0.52, +0.05, +9.73%) gapped up today, opening at 53 cents after closing the previous trading session at 47 cents. The stock price is up 12.6% with a volume of 462,756. The stock has moved up across its 50-day moving average of 53 cents today.

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Hologic (Nasdaq: HOLX) to buy Gen-Probe (Nasdaq: GPRO) for about $3.72B

Shawshank, VA 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Medical device maker Hologic Inc. (Nasdaq: HOLX) has agreed to buy diagnostic test maker Gen-Probe Inc. (Nasdaq: GPRO) for about $3.72 billion in an all-cash deal, expanding its portfolio of tools for detecting diseases.

Hologic said Monday that it will pay $82.75 for each share of Gen-Probe, a 20 percent premium over Gen-Probe's closing stock price of $68.71 on Friday. Its shares climbed almost 19 percent in morning trading.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies but still must be approved by Gen-Probe shareholders.

The announcement came the same day the companies posted quarterly financial results. Bedford, Mass.-based Hologic reported a net loss of $40.3 million, or 15 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter as expenses rose. Gen-Probe, based in San Diego, reported a 3 percent decline in its first-quarter earnings.

Gen-Probe shares climbed $13.02, or 18.9 percent, to $81.73 in morning trading. Hologic shares fell $1.78, or 8.4 percent, to $19.45.

Gen-Probe provides molecular diagnostics products and services, including several tests for sexually transmitted diseases. Hologic said the company will be a "highly complementary addition" to its diagnostics portfolio. It also said the deal will advance its core focus on women's health and establish it as a premier company in STD diagnostics.

The companies expect the deal to close in the second half of this year. Gen-Probe would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hologic. Based on Gen-Probe's approximately 45 million outstanding shares, the deal is worth about $3.72 billion.

Hologic said it expects the addition of Gen-Probe to boost its adjusted earnings by about 20 cents in the first fiscal year after the deal closes and significantly more after that.

Hologic's loss in the quarter that ended March 24 compares to net income of $82.4 million, or 31 cents per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue climbed more than 7 percent to $471.2 million.

Adjusted earnings, which exclude several one-time charges and gains, were 33 cents per share.

Analysts expected Hologic would earn 33 cents per share on revenue of $474 million, according to a FactSet survey.

Hologic said its costs and expenses climbed 63 percent in the quarter to $461 million. It recorded a $42.3 million non-cash loss on the exchange of convertible notes in the quarter and an $18.3 million charge tied to its decision to stop selling the Adiana permanent contraception system.

In its earnings report, Gen-Probe said Monday its first-quarter net income fell to $22.5 million, or 49 cents per share, from $23.3 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier. Total revenue grew 7 percent to $153.4 million, and adjusted earnings were 55 cents per share.

Analysts expected, on average, adjusted earnings of 51 cents per share on $150.7 million in revenue from Gen-Probe.

Hologic said it will fund its Gen-Probe acquisition with available cash and debt. It has secured financing from Goldman Sachs Bank USA and Goldman Sachs Lending Partners LLC.

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Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) forecasts profit below estimates, shares fall

Shawshank, VA 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Chinese Internet portal Sohu.com Inc (Nasdaq: SOHU) reported strong quarterly results, but its second-quarter profit outlook fell well short of estimates as the company forecast slowing brand advertising revenue growth for the third straight quarter.

Sohu expects second-quarter brand advertising revenue to rise between 0.4 percent and 5 percent. First-quarter brand advertising revenue rose 7 percent. It had grown 29 percent in the fourth-quarter of 2011 and 30 percent in the third quarter.

"The economic slowdown in China clearly had an impact on advertiser sentiment," Chief Operating Officer Belinda Wang said in a statement.

"Because of lackluster auto sales and the slowing real estate market, many automakers and real estate developers decided to defer their marketing plans."

Brand advertising revenue comes from advertisements on some popular Sohu-run websites like Sohu.com, Focus.cn and Chinaren.com, where the company offers original and syndicated content. It accounts for nearly three-quarters of total online advertising revenue.

The company, which competes with SINA Corp, expects an adjusted profit of 40 cents to 45 cents per share for the second quarter, on revenue of $244 million to $250 million.

Analysts on average expected an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share, on revenue of $250.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income attributable to Sohu.com fell to 23.1 million, or 53 cents per share, from 44.8 million, or $1.01 cents per share, a year ago.

The company's shares, which closed at $55.76 on Friday on the Nasdaq, fell 6 percent to $52.20 in Monday premarket trading.

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Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) 1st-qtr. net income falls, revenue rises

Northern, WI 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Tenneco's (NYSE: TEN) first-quarter net income slipped 36 percent, pulled down mostly by refinancing and bond retirement costs.

The auto parts maker reported on Monday that it earned $30 million, or 49 cents per share, for the period ended March 31. That's down from $47 million, or 75 cents per share, a year ago.

Stripping out 18 cents per share in costs tied to refinancing a senior credit facility and retiring bonds due 2015 as well as other items, earnings climbed to 66 cents per share from 63 cents per share.

Analysts expected earnings of 73 cents per share, according to a Fact Set survey.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $1.91 billion from $1.76 billion, partly on higher revenue from North America and the Asia Pacific region.

This beat Wall Street forecast for revenue of $1.88 billion.

Tenneco Inc. is based in Lake Forest, Ill. Its stock fell 59 cents to $35.50 in premarket trading.

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Verifone (NYSE: PAY) shares fall after Deutsche Bank downgrade

Northern, WI 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Verifone Systems Inc's (NYSE: PAY) shares fell 10.5 percent after Deutsche Bank questioned the company's organic growth projections and downgraded its stock.

Deutsche Bank said Verifone overstated its revenue growth for the first quarter as most of the revenue increase came from selling its own legacy products to customers from the acquired Hypercombusiness.

"Verifone's organic growth is inflated by recognizing Verifone sales to legacy Hypercom customers as organic growth (possibly doing so for other acquisitions too), but often is essentially cannibalizing Hypercom product sales," Deutsche Bank analyst Bryan Keane wrote in a note.

The credit card swipe machine maker completed its acquisition of U.S.-rival Hypercom late last-year after agreeing to divest part of the legacy Hypercom business to address anti-trust concerns.

The brokerage downgraded Verifone to "sell" from "hold" and reduced its price target on the company's stock to $40 from $44.

Verifone shares fell to a low of $48.75 in early trade on Monday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. They were later down almost 10 percent at $49.72 on the.

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Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETE) to Buy Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) for $5.3B

Northern, WI 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) inked a $5.3 billion takeover on Monday from pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETE) that values the independent refiner at a 22.5% premium.

Under the terms of the transaction, Energy Transfer Partners will pay $50.13 in cash and stock to acquire Philadelphia-based Sunoco.

ETP said it anticipates the acquisition closing in the third or fourth quarter and adding to its bottom line immediately.

The deal "represents the next step in Energy Transfer Partners’ transformation into a more diversified enterprise with an integrated and expanded footprint,” ETP CEO Kelcy Warren said in a statement.

After the deal closes, ETP said Sunoco’s logistics and retail businesses will remain headquartered in the Philadelphia area.

Sunoco Logistics Partners (NYSE: SXL) will continue to be listed on NYSE Euronext’s (NYSE: NYX) Big Board as a separate publicly traded company, but ETP will acquire Sunoco’s general partner interest, limited partner interest and incentive distribution rights in the logistics company.

Despite the transaction, Sunoco said it will continue its plan to exit the refining business, perhaps through a proposed joint venture being negotiated with private-equity giant the Carlyle Group.

“This transaction will enable Sunoco’s businesses to realize their full potential by becoming an important part of a diversified leader in the energy industry,” said Sunoco CEO Brian MacDonald. “ETP recognizes that the steady, ratable cash flows that our logistics and retail businesses generate are backed by great assets, deep expertise, and the potential for future growth.”

Shares of Sunoco leaped 20.51% to $49.31 Monday morning, while ETP was up 1.19% to $48.49. Sunoco Logistics Partners saw its shares fall 0.81% to $40.66.

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Rockwell Medical (Nasdaq: RMTI) Completes Patient Enrollment in PRIME Clinical Study

Atlanta, GA 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Rockwell Medical (Nasdaq: RMTI), a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company targeting end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) with innovative products and services for the treatment of iron deficiency, secondary hyperparathyroidism and hemodialysis, announced today that it has completed patient enrollment in its PRIME clinical study, which is designed to investigate the reduction in the need for erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESA) in hemodialysis patients receiving Soluble Ferric Pyrophosphate (SFP) via dialysate.

Robert L. Chioini, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell, stated, "We are excited to achieve another important milestone in our SFP clinical development. The PRIME study is expected to generate compelling clinical data that we anticipate will differentiate SFP as an advanced iron-delivery therapy for hemodialysis patients, once FDA approved."

The PRIME study is a nine-month, multi-center study randomizing 100 patients equally to dialysate containing SFP-iron versus conventional dialysate. The primary objective of the study is to determine whether regular administration of SFP-iron via dialysate reduces the requirement for erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) by maintaining iron balance and optimizing iron delivery. The primary end point is percent change from baseline in ESA dose required to maintain Hgb in the target range. Secondary endpoints include ESA response index (ERI), measures of oxidative stress, hemoglobin variability and amount of supplemental intravenous iron needed.

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3 Things to Know Before Trading

Atlanta, GA 4/30/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were mixed in Asian trade The Nikkei and Shanghai were closed because of holidays. But the Hang Seng was strong, it rose 1.7%, while Australia was up0.8%. European indexes are also mixed this morning with the Footsie down 0.4% and the Dax unchanged. US stock futures are down a slight fraction as I write.

*The March reading of German Retail Sales were up 0.8%; two tenths less than forecast. But the annualized reading of Retail Sales was +2.3% and that is more than four times the estimate.

*The March reading of Personal Income and Spending is due out at 7:30am CDT. Income is expected to be up 0.3% on the month and the estimate for Spending is +0.4% month on month. The PCE Deflator inflation measure is expected to be +2.2% year on year and the month on month reading for the PCE Core is +0.2% and the annualized result is forecast to be +2.0%. The April reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is due out at 8:45am CDT, but remember the subscribers will get the report three minutes earlier; it is expected to be 60.5, down a bit from the 62.2 result seen in March.

*The February reading of Canada’s GDP is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be +0.2% on a monthly basis and +2.1% year on year. Also due out in Canada at 7:30am is Industrial Production, it is forecast to be +0.1% on the month.

*The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Index is set to be released at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to be 8.0; it was 10.8 the month before.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 2/15/36 and 2/15/42; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

*Dallas Fed’s Fisher will participate on a panel about “Jobs for America” at a Milken Institute event at 4:30pm CDT.

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Sunpeaks Ventures (OTCBB: SNPK) Signs Agreement for Clotamin with Dayton Dragons Baseball

Atlanta, Ga 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc. (OTCBB: SNPK) and its wholly owned subsidiary Healthcare Distribution Specialists, LLC ("HDS") are pleased to announce that HDS has entered into a binding letter of commitment (the "Agreement") with Dayton Professional Baseball, LLC ("DPB"), the owner of the Dayton Dragonsprofessional baseball team. The Agreement is part of a new marketing initiative to launch Clotamin in 90 stores owned and operated by a national retail chain in the Cincinnati-Dayton District.

Under terms of the Agreement, in conjunction with the retailer, DPB will create and run a Corporate Marketing Program centered on Clotamin in stores. As with previous in-store agreements, the Company anticipates that counter point-of-sale (POS) displays featuring Clotamin will be prominently placed in each retail location for the duration of the program – approximately seven months, beginning on April 30, 2012.

During the consumer marketing and advertising program, Clotamin is also expected to be featured at the Dayton Dragons home games on signage and other marketing elements throughout the Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Dragons are the first (and only) team in minor league baseball history to sell out an entire season before it began and was voted as one of the Top Ten Hottest Tickets to get in all of professional sports by Sports Illustrated. The Dayton Dragons' series of 815 consecutive sellouts surpassed the longest sellout streak across all professional sports in the U.S.

"We are excited to be associating Clotamin with one of the most popular teams in all of pro sports. Their incredible attendance record is testament to the quality of the game on field, loyal fans, and marketing know-how," stated Mackie A. Barch, CEO of Sunpeaks Ventures. "Once again, the marketing combination of a national retailer with a highly-recognizable pro sports team is designed to allow us to quickly introduce Clotamin into a geographic area. We look forward to working closely with the team to make this a successful Clotamin launch."

About Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc.

Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Healthcare Distribution Specialists, LLC ("HDS"), is a nationally focused, value-added distributor of specialty drugs and over-the-counter ("OTC") branded multivitamins to the healthcare provider market. HDS also owns and markets Clotamin®, a specialized over-the-counter multivitamin product designed exclusively for use by patients also on Warfarin®, a popular blood thinner that has a long list of known adverse drug and food interactions.

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Cray Inc (Nasdaq: CRAY) jumps on results beat, outlook raise

ShawShank, VA 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of supercomputer maker Cray Inc (Nasdaq: CRAY) jumped 20 percent to their highest in two-and-a-half years on Friday after the company's quarterly results blew past estimates, boosted by a string of customer wins.

The company also raised its full-year sales outlook for the second time since November.

"We had a strong first quarter led by a large acceptance at Oak Ridge National Laboratory," CEO Peter Ungaro said in a statement on Thursday.

The company expects strong growth from its commercial customers in 2012, from manufacturing, life sciences and energy industries, it said on a conference call with analysts.

Cray raised its full-year revenue outlook range by $30 million between $430 million and $450 million.

Cray said on Wednesday it would sell its interconnect hardware development program and related intellectual property to Intel Corp (pasting) for $140 million in cash.

Shares of the company rose to $10.67, adding nearly $66 million to its market capitalization, and making it one of the biggest percentage gainers on the Nasdaq.

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Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) shares plunge on weak outlook, board changes

ShawShank, VA 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc's (Nasdaq: MDRX) shares plunged 42 percent in premarket trade on Friday, after the company forecast weak full-year earnings, hurt by software development costs and weaker bookings.

On Thursday, the healthcare information technology provider reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and also announced the resignation of its CFO, three directors and board Chairman Phil Pead.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) analyst George Hill said the results were strongly disappointing and downgraded the company's stock to "neutral" from "buy."

Hill said he was most troubled by the loss of long tenured CFO Bill Davis, who had been the public face of Allscripts to investors for many years.

"We suspect CEO Glen Tullman won a power struggle at the 11th hour leading to the board departures," Hill said.

"Too few customers are buying its products, due to lack of confidence or satisfaction," Barclays Capital analyst Lawrence Marsh wrote in a note.

Allscripts shares were trading at $9.27 in premarket trade. They had closed at $16.02 Thursday on the Nasdaq.

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Western Digital (NYSE: WDC), Seagate (Nasdaq: STX) slip on pricing worries

Orlando, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Western Digital (NYSE: WDC -11.63%) and Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX -8.52%) fell sharply Friday morning as investors reacted to commentary from Western Digital about weaker pricing for hard disk drives in the current quarter.

Shares of Western Digital nearly 15%, while Seagate was down more than 9%. A flooding disaster in Thailand last year had disrupted Western Digital's operations and triggered a shortage in hard disk drives


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Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE)shares soar on better-than-expected 1st-qtr results

Orlando, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) rose more than 20 percent before the opening bell Friday on the heels of its better-than-expected first-quarter results.

The online travel company swung to a first-quarter loss, but its adjusted results handily beat Wall Street's expectations. Its revenue also climbed 12 percent.

Expedia, which also operates Hotels.com, the corporate travel-management business Egencia and other subsidiaries, handled 18 percent more transactions than a year ago, including a 24 percent jump in room nights rented, but average room rates were flat.

The stock was up $6.84, or 21 percent, to $39.39 in premarket trading Friday. The stock has traded in a wide range over the past year, from a low of $27.28 to a high of $65.78.

In a note to clients Friday, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney suggested that booking trends both in the U.S. and overseas indicate growth is accelerating.

He raised his revenue expectations for the year by about 4 to 5 percent and his earnings per share forecast by 3 percent.

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Aware (Nasdaq: AWRE) Up 60%; Selling WiFi, LTE Patents To Intel (NYSE: INTC) For $75M

Orlando, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Aware Inc. (Nasdaq: AWRE) this morning said It has agreed to sell a group of patents and patent applications to Intel (NYSE: INTC) for $75 million. The patents are in the areas of WiFi, LTE and wireless home networking. Aware this morning also declared a special dividend of $1.15 a share.

Aware, a Bedford, Mass., technology company with products in biometrics software and DSL service assurance, this morning also announced Q1 results. For the period, Aware reported revenue of $5.7 million, down 10% from a year ago, with profits of 5 cents a share up from 3 cents a year earlier.

The patent deal is quite a windfall for Aware; as of yesterday the company had a market cap of just $77 million – so $75 million is looking like a pretty fat payday for those patents.

Ergo, AWRE this morning is up $2.26, or 60.4%, to $6.

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Merck (NYSE: MRK) posts big Q1 profit jump on lower charges

Tallahassee, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Drugmaker Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) said Friday that its first-quarter profit jumped 67 percent despite lower-than-expected sales, due to lower spending on production, marketing and research as well as an arbitration charge a year ago.

The maker of Singulair for asthma and allergies said net income was $1.74 billion, or 56 cents per share, up from $1.04 billion, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Merck would have earned $3.04 billion, or 99 cents per share, up from $2.86 billion, or 92 cents per share, in 2011's first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 98 cents.

Revenue was $11.73 billion, up 1.3 percent from $11.58 billion a year ago. Analysts expected $11.83 billion.

Merck reiterated its 2012 profit forecast, for $3.75 to $3.85 per share, excluding one-time items.

"Our performance this quarter was driven by the solid contributions across our pharmaceutical, animal health and consumer care divisions and by our ongoing efforts to operate more effectively and efficiently," Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck's CEO and chairman, said in a statement.

The company took charges totalling $1.31 billion, or 43 cents a share, for integration of acquired businesses, reduced value to some assets and accounting adjustments to inventory.

Prescription drug sales rose 3 percent to $10.08 billion, led by Singulair at $1.34 billion and jumps of about 25 percent for diabetes pills Januvia and Janumet. They brought in a total of $1.31 billion, helping make up for generic competition continuing to slash sales of former blockbusters Cozaar and Hyzaar, for high blood presure.

Merck recently got U.S. approval to sell an extended-release version of Janumet, which combines Januvia and a widely used generic pill, metformin. But Singulair, Merck's top seller, goes off patent in August, creating another drain on revenue.

Sales of veterinary medicines and vaccines jumped 8 percent to $821 million on higher sales of pet and cattle products. Sales of consumer health products, including the Coppertone sun care and Dr. Scholl's foot care lines, rose 7 percent, to $554 million.

In last year's quarter, Merck took a charge of $500 million to end arbitration with health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) over rights to immune disorder drugs Remicade and Simponi, blockbusters with several billion dollars in annual sales.

J&J had sold them jointly with Schering-Plough Corp., but after Merck bought Schering in November 2009, J&J sought worldwide rights to their sales. Under the arbitration settlement, Merck also gave up rights to sell the drugs in Latin America, Canada and some other regions, reducing its revenue from the two injectable drugs in the quarter by 26 percent, to $519 million.

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Amazon soars as digital sales boost margins

Tallahassee, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Amazon.com Inc (Nasdaq: AMZN) rose 16 percent in premarket trading on Friday, after the world's largest Internet retailer reported a surprise increase in gross margins, prompting a slew of price target increases by analysts.

Amazon on Thursday posted better-than-expected quarterly results as heavy spending on infrastructure and new products like the Kindle Fire began to pay off through sales of more digital content on the tablet.

"The biggest surprise in the quarter was Amazon's gross margin increase of 120 basis points year-over-year, the largest uptick in ten years," RBC Capital Markets analyst Ross Sandler said.

Faster growth at Amazon Web Services and sales of its digital goods drove the improvement in margins, analysts said.

During the first quarter, nine of the 10 top-selling products on Amazon.com were digital products, including Kindle e-books, movies, music and apps.

"Bulls have been waiting a long time for this gross margin upside and it finally came in the first-quarter," Macquarie Equities Research analyst Ben Schachter said.

The company's shares had been hit by the lack of the margin growth over the past few months.

Schachter expects gross margins to continue to ramp up in the long term as the company benefits from the increasing use of the Internet.

Analysts at Macquarie, RBC, Citigroup and at least nine other brokerages raised their price target on the stock. Nomura upgraded it to "buy" from "neutral".

According to Thomson Reuters StarMine, 12 analysts rate the stock "strong buy," 11 a "buy," 15 a "hold" and one a "sell." Only one rates the stock "strong sell." Analysts have a mean price target of $218.69.

Amazon shares were up at $227.75 in premarket trade. They closed at $195.99 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

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3 Things to Know Before Trading

Tallahassee, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were mostly lower but little changed in Asian trade. The Nikkei fell 0.4%, while the Hang Seng, Australia and Shanghai were all down about a third of a percent. European indexes are mixed this morning with the Dax and Footsie both up a slight fraction. US stock futures are up a slight fraction as I write.

*The March reading of Japan’s Jobless Rate was steady at 4.5%, as expected. However, Overall Household Spending was up just 3.4% on a year over year basis in March, seven tenths under the forecast.

*The March reading of Japan’s Consumer Price Index Ex-fresh food is +0.2% on a year on year basis, twice the expected gain. But, the April reading of that same price measure for Tokyo is -0.5% year on year, that is two tenths more deflationary than forecast and is the most deflationary reading since November.

*Other data released in Japan overnight includes: the preliminary March reading of Industrial Production is +1.0% month on month, only half the expected gain and the March reading of Retail Trade was -1.2% month on month, more than twice the expected decline.

*The Bank of Japan kept their target interest rate steady at 0.10% at their policy meeting earlier today, this was expected. Additionally they expanded their monetary stimulus program by Y10 trillion and they extended the maturity of government bond purchases out to 3 years from 2 years. They say that these moves will better ensure recovery of their economy, something they seem to think is beginning to occur.

*Italy sold debt today; the success or lack of it is in the eye of the beholder. They sold most of what they wanted to, but the yield was much higher, at least sixty basis points, versus that seen a month ago at sales of 5 and 10 year debt.

*S&P downgraded Spain by two notches to BBB+ and maintained a negative outlook; they say “We believe that the Kingdom of Spain’s budget trajectory will likely deteriorate against a background of economic contraction in contrast with our previous projections.”

*Earlier this morning Spain reported that their Q1 Unemployment Rate was 24.44%,, up more than one and a half percent from the previous quarter and six tenths more than the forecast.

*The March reading of Germany’s Import Price Index was up 0.7% on the month, two tenths shy of the estimate.

*The first look at Q1 GDP is due out at 7:30am CDT. Headline GDP is expected to be +2.5%; the GDP Deflator is forecast to be +2.1%; the PCE Core is expected to be +2.1%; and the estimate for Personal Consumption is +2.3%. Also due out at 7:30am is the Q1 reading of the Employment Cost Index, which is forecast to be up 0.5% from the previous quarter. The final April reading of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is set to be released at 8:55am CDT, it is expected to be steady from the month’s preliminary result at 75.7; in March it was 76.2.

*The Fed is scheduled to sell Treasuries today that are due to mature between 6/15/14 and 4/15/15; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

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Another China Cleantech Stock on the Run: NF Energy Saving (NASDAQ: NFEC)

Tallahassee, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Investorideas.com, a leader in renewable energy and cleantech stock research, releases a trading alert for NF Energy Saving Corporation (NASDAQ: NFEC) trading at $2.32, up 0.44(23.40%) on over 1.7 million shares.

Following on the heels of another China cleantech stock, yesterdays leading NASDAQ gainer, Cleantech Solutions International Inc(NASDAQ:CLNT) increased $1.71 (44.65%) to close at $5.54 The stock has gained over 161% since the beginning of this month without any official news.

NF Energy Saving Corporation (NASDAQ: NFEC) is an energy saving services and solutions provider for China's power, petrochemical, coal, metallurgy, construction, and municipal infrastructure development industries. The stock has moved in today’s trading on no apparent news. The stock was featured in a Seeking Alpha article April 12th.

Investors - sign up for free green stocks trading alerts and news
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Thursday’s top gaining and declining stocks

Tallahassee, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of the following companies made notable moves on Thursday:

Gainers

Citrix Systems (Nasdaq: CTXS +9.28%) shares gained 8%. Analysts at FBR Capital Markets upped their rating on the shares to outperform, on the heels of first-quarter financial results issued late Wednesday.

Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI +6.66%) shares rose 6%. The maker of generic drugs said late Wednesday it agreed to acquire Actavis Group, a privately held company that had 2011 revenue of about $2.5 billion.

Xilinx Inc (Nasdaq: XLNX +6.22%) shares added 7.2%. The company said late Wednesday that profit slipped in the first quarter but revenue rose.

Decliners

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET -9.75%) shares fell 10%. Earlier Thursday, the company said first-quarter earnings fell 13% as the health insurer saw the portion of premiums paid out to cover medical costs increase.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM -8.85%) fell 9%. Late Wednesday, the firm reported first-quarter results and said that its CEO succession plan is underway.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: FURX -25.87%) shares fell 26% on Thursday. Earlier Thursday, the company said the FDA has requested further data from partner Takeda Pharmaceutical, a development that Furiex called disappointing.

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Coke's (NYSE: KO) Stock Split Recalls Buffett's Pickpocket Warning

Tallahassee, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) Chairman Muhtar Kent, who pushed for the beverage maker's 11th stock split with an appeal for greater market liquidity, may be philosophically at odds with his biggest investor, Warren Buffett.

Buffett, who controls a Coca-Cola stake of almost $15 billion, has resisted splitting Class A shares of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), which closed yesterday at $119,700. Splits, he said in a 1984 letter, may encourage short-term investment strategies that enrich brokers at the expense of the business.

"I don't know what he would say about this one," said Howard Buffett, the investor's son and a director at Atlanta- based Coca-Cola. Howard Buffett, who spoke today on the sidelines of the soft-drink maker's annual meeting, said he voted for the 2-for-1 split and had not discussed the transaction with his father. "Every situation is different."

The transaction will halve the price of Coca-Cola, which ended yesterday at $74.12, making it more affordable for retail investors, said Jack Russo, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. It "reflects our desire to share value with an ever-growing number of people and organizations around the world," Kent, also the chief executive officer, said today in a statement.

"It's somewhat ironic that a stock that's been part of the Buffett portfolio all these years is playing that stock- splitting game," said David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Berkshire shareholder Wedgewood Partners Inc. "Be careful what you wish for. Is it more and better shareholders that are going to have a long term view? I doubt it."

Coca-Cola rose 1.1 percent to $74.93 at 4 p.m. in New York. Berkshire, where Buffett is chairman and CEO, accumulated its stake in the world's largest soft-drink maker from 1988 to 1994 at a cost of about $1.3 billion.

‘Pickpocket of Enterprise'

Coca-Cola split its stock in 2-for-1 transactions three times while Buffett, a Coca-Cola director from 1989 to 2006, was on the board. Howard Buffett, also a director at Berkshire, joined the Coca-Cola board in 2010.

"One of the ironies of the stock market is the emphasis on activity," Warren Buffett said in the 1984 letter. "But investors should understand that what is good for the croupier is not good for the customer. A hyperactive stock market is the pickpocket of enterprise."

Shareholders at today's annual meeting stood and applauded when Kent told them of the newly proposed split. Warren Buffett didn't mention the action in a video he taped to open the meeting.

‘Never Sold a Share'

"I've had a relationship with Coke for over 70 years," Buffett, who drinks Cherry Coke, said in the video. "Today we own 200 million shares. We've never sold a share of Coca-Cola."

Kent Landers, a spokesman for Coca-Cola, declined to comment about the statements in Buffett's letter. Warren Buffett didn't return a message seeking comment.

Buffett, who holds more than $40 billion in Berkshire stock, has said gains represent a barrier to entry for short- term investors and encourage shareholders to think like owners. Berkshire shares cost a minimum of $33,200 each 16 years ago. The cost of entry fell as Buffett added a second class of stock and, two years ago, split the B shares to facilitate the $26.5 billion cash-and-stock takeover of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

‘One Opinion'

Berkshire Class B shares rose 15 cents to $79.94. Buffett split the B shares 50 for 1 in 2010, and said it enabled Burlington Northern investors to convert more of their holdings into Berkshire shares, reducing cash proceeds and tax costs. Howard Buffett said his father has "one opinion about how Berkshire should handle a stock split and another about how Coke would handle it." The stock split requires shareholder approval.

Coca-Cola's quarterly dividend has advanced more than 10- fold since Berkshire began buying shares, and Buffett said in 2011 that he expected the payouts to double in the next 10 years. Berkshire's share of the quarterly payout rose to $102 million this year.

"Time is the friend of the wonderful business," Buffett said of Coca-Cola in his letter to shareholders last year.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Tumbles; Margins Shrink; 'Uncertainties' In Europe

Orlando, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) shares are trading sharply lower following the company’s Q1 financial report.

For the quarter, Alcatel posted revenue of 3.2 billion Euros, down 12.3% from a year ago, or 14.8% lower on a constant currency basis. Revenues were shy of the Street consensus at 3.35 billion Euros. In dollars, revenues were $4.23 billion, while the Street had expected $4.6 billion.

The telecom equipment company reported an adjusted operating loss for the quater of $221 million; free cash flow was -$163 million. Net income was 440 million Euros.

One obvious issue with the quarter was that gross margin fell to 30.3%, down from 35.3% a year ago and 34.4% in the fourth quarter.

“Today’s results reflect a slow start to the year while demonstrating good control on both cash and costs and a strong momentum in our next generation products portfolio,” CEO Ben Verwaayen said in a statement. “But gross margin is not at the level we would have liked. Since the last quarter of 2011, we have been negatively impacted by lower volume and by an unfavorable revenue mix, particularly in services”.

He also noted that “market uncertainties remain high in Europe and the transition from CDMA to LTE is accelerating in North America.”

The company is not changing full year guidance. “We expect to have better visibility on our profitability at the end of the current quarter,” Verwaayen said.

ALU is down 29 cents, or 14.9%, to $1.66.

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MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS), Leap Wireless (Nasdaq: LEAP) fall on disappointing results

Orlando, FL 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) and Leap Wireless (Nasdaq: LEAP) both fell hard Thursday morning following disappointing earnings results from both pre-paid wireless carriers. MetroPCS saw its shares fall 11% to $7.04 after the company reported a 63% drop in first-quarter profits on a sharply lower number of new subscribers compared to the same period last year.

Leap Wireless plunged nearly 24% to $5.89 after the company also reported a sharp decline in new subscribers for the quarter, along with a net loss of $98.4 million. "If anything, the poor results from MetroPCS, and cautious guidance from Leap, suggest that things might be getting more difficult for the pre-paid specialists," wrote Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research in a note to clients.

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Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) FY Q4 EPS Tops Street; Margins Widen; Shares Spike

Shawshank, VA 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Logitech (Nasdaq: LOGI) shares are trading sharply higher Thursday morning after the maker PC and consumer electronics peripherals posted better-than-expected profits for its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31.

For the quarter, Logitech reported revenue of $532 million, down 3% from a year ago, and shy of the Street consensus at $538.4 million. But profits of 17 cents a share were well ahead of the Street at 7 cents, as gross margin expanded to 36.4% from 32.8% a year ago.

The company said it expects “improved” financial performance in the second half of the March 2013 fiscal year.

Logitech also unveiled some measures to streamline its management structure, taking out some costs in the progress.

“I look forward to leading Logitech to improved performance,” Logitech President Bracken Darrell said in a statement. “To get back to sustained, profitable growth, we need to be simpler, faster and more consumer-centric. Some of this transformation has already begun, with the management team’s work to reinvigorate the product portfolio. We now need to simplify the organization through restructuring. With board approval, I have eliminated a layer of business and sales executive management; the leaders of our business groups and sales regions now report directly to me. In addition, we will consolidate brand management and product portfolio management under the leadership of the business groups, and streamline most other functions. I expect most of this restructuring to be completed by the end of the current quarter, freeing up resources to pursue our growth opportunities. The restructuring should result in a reduction of approximately $80 million in annual operating costs.”

In a separate release, the company announced some executive changes, including the departure next month of Werner Held, senior VP of worldwide sales and marketing. His job is being eliminated.

LOGI this morning is up $1.10, or 14.1%, to $8.89.

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Solarwinds (NYSE: SWI) Profit Jumps 43%, Sales 39%; Shares up 6%

Shawshank, VA 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) – SolarWinds Inc (NYSE: SWI) posted first-quarter profit above analysts' expectations, helped by higher license revenue, and the network management software maker forecast second quarter in line with estimates.

The company, which makes software to move data over business networks, earned $17.1 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with $11.7 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, the company earned 30 cents a share.

Revenue rose 39 percent to $59.7 million. License revenue jumped 35 percent to $27.5 million.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 25 cents per share, on revenue of $56.4 million for the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the second quarter, SolarWinds expects adjusted earnings of 26 cents to 27 cents per share, on revenue of $59 million to $60.2 million.

Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings of 27 cents a share, on revenue of $59.1 million.

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EPIC (Pinksheets: EPOR) Shareholders Get 100% Stock Dividend and a Free Sleep Pad

Altanta, GA 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- EPIC Corporation (Pinksheets: EPOR) introduced AcuFab and AcuPad brand names for the EPIC Spacer Fabric and EPIC Sleep Pad. The Company also confirmed that shareholders of record on April 27, 2012 will receive a 100% stock dividend and an in-kind divided of a single EPIC Sleep Pad.

AcuFab is the brand name for the EPIC Spacer Fabric from which EPIC is producing several healthcare products. The AcuFab is a therapeutic knitted fabric with concave and convex channels that provides ventilation and circulation.

AcuPad is the brand name for EPIC's sleep pads, pressure overlays, wheelchair pads, seat pads, and auto and truck seat pads for consumers and healthcare institutions. The AcuPad products are designed to help prevent pressure sores, lower back pain, increased circulation of air and blood, reduce stress, decrease muscle tension and stiffness, and much more.

The Company has declared a 100% stock dividend and is giving a twin bed size Sleep Pad to all shareholders of record on April 27, 2012. Each shareholder will receive a voucher in the mail and must return it to the Company with full contact information to receive the twin size pad. The voucher will give the shareholder a twin size Sleep Pad free and the right to purchase a double, queen or California king size Sleep Pad at the current sales price of $123.28 for the twin bed size plus $15 for shipping and handling.

EPIC's mission is to provide people with better healthcare. Visit www.epiccor.com for corporate and investor information.

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MagneGas (OTCBB: MNGA) Adds Large Direct Fuel Customer in Suncoast Metals

Northern, WI 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- MagneGas Corporation (OTCBB: MNGA), the developer of a technology that converts liquid waste into a hydrogen-based metal working fuel and natural gas alternative, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Suncoast Metals LLC (Suncoast) to provide MagneGas™ fuel for metal working. Suncoast, a full service metal recycling company with over $32 million in annual revenue, has agreed to use MagneGas™exclusively for their scrap operations and has accepted its first order of MagneGas™ fuel.

"By working with MagneGas, we are demonstrating our level of commitment towards improving the environment," stated Mike Allen, Vice President of Suncoast Metals, LLC. "We found MagneGas™ performance superior to other metal working fuels and this was a major factor in our decision. We are confident that using MagneGas™ will allow us to improve our productivity and reduce costs while continuing to provide our customers with exceptional service."

"Our continued growth is a testament to the fact that we are able to provide our customers with the performance and savings they expect when using MagneGas™ as the primary fuel option for their metal cutting needs," commented Scott Wainwright, President of MagneGas. "We look forward to furthering our relationship with Suncoast by providing the company with MagneGas™ as they continue to expand their metal cutting operations."

About MagneGas Corporation
Founded in 2007, Tampa-based MagneGas Corporation is the producer of MagneGas™, a natural gas alternative and metal working fuel that can be made from certain industrial, municipal, agricultural and military liquid wastes following the receipt of appropriate governmental permits.

The Company's patented Plasma Arc Flow™ process gasifies liquid waste, creating a clean burning hydrogen based fuel that is essentially interchangeable with natural gas. MagneGas™ can be used for metal working, cooking, heating, powering bi fuel automobiles and more.

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Norfolk Southern Orders PbC Batteries for Locomotive Switcher from Axion Power (OTCBB: AXPW)

Northern, WI 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Axion Power International Inc. (OTCBB: AXPW), the developer of advanced lead­carbon PbC® batteries and energy storage systems, announced that it has received an order from Norfolk Southern Corp. for PbC batteries for use in a battery-powered locomotive. Axion said this first $400,000 purchase order is part of a $475,000 total purchase order to be shipped and deployed over the next three to four months that will be used in the commissioning of Norfolk Southern's NS-999. To date, this is the largest single PbC battery order that Axion has received. No further details were disclosed.

"We have been working with Norfolk Southern for two and a half years, and we are very pleased that this first hybrid 'switcher' yard locomotive, to be run completely on PbC batteries, will soon be in service,” said Axion Power Chairman & CEO Thomas Granville.

A yard switcher locomotive is used in a train yard to assemble and disassemble long trip over-the-road trains as well as for general movement of railroad cars around the rail yard.

According to the Axion chief, the companies are working together to deploy the first “over the road” locomotive powered by Axion batteries. The larger unit will require approximately twice the number of 100-percent recyclable batteries as the yard switcher.

“High-performance PbC batteries are ideally suited for hybrid locomotive applications due to their high charge acceptance, fast charge and discharge capabilities (important in regenerative braking), and their inherent ability to equalize voltage when utilized in large string configurations," explained Granville.

Shares of AXPW are holding an uptrend in 2012; closing 2011 at 27 cents before surging to 64 cents late in January. Shares cooled from the highs, but are still holding support above a 37 cent support level with yesterday’s close at 43 cents.

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3 Things to Know Before Trading

Northern, WI 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were generally little changed in Asian trade. The Hang Seng was among the best with a gain of 0.8% and Australia was up a third of a percent, but the Nikkei and Shanghai were essentially unchanged. European indexes are mixed this morning; the Footsie is unchanged and the Dax is down 0.4%, but Spain is off by about two percent right now. US stock futures are unchanged as I write.

*German states are releasing the April reading of their Consumer Price Indexes this morning, including: Saxony +0.1% on the month and +2.0% year on year; Brandenburg +0.2% and +2.1%; Hesse +0.2% and +1.9%; Bavaria +0.3% and +2.2% and North Rhine Westphalia +0.2% and +1.7%. The national CPI is due out at 7:00am CDT, it is expected to be +0.1% on a month on month basis and +2.2% year on year, for the EU harmonized version.

*In March in the UK there were 31,888 loans for house purchase, according to the British Bankers Association; that’s a couple thousand less than anticipated.

*Exxon and UPS are among the companies due to report earnings today.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 375k. The March reading of Pending Home Sales is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is forecast to be up one percent from the month before.

*There are a couple of regional Fed reports on the calendar today. The March reading of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index is set to be released at 7:30am CDT; it was -0.09 in February. The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity Index is due out at 10:00am CDT, it is expected to be down two points from the month before at 7.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 45 bcf.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 2/15/36 and 2/15/42; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

*The Treasury plans to sell $29 billion 7 Year Notes today; the auction results will be announced just after noon CDT.

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Rackwise Inc (OTCBB: RACK) Hitting 52 Week Highs after U.S. Army Expands Use of Rack Solutions

Northern, WI 4/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- Rackwise, Inc. (OTCBB: RACK), a leading developer of data center infrastructure management software and service solutions, announced today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE” or the “Corps”) has significantly expanded utilization of the Company’s deployedDCiM™ solution to manage its primary and satellite data centers.

A Rackwise, Inc. customer since 2010, USACE is virtualizing assets to optimize storage in both their primary and multiple remote data centers. Ensuring consistent, timely and accurate asset information across all data centers is essential to optimizing footprints and costs while providing necessary IT infrastructure to support the Corps’ various projects and programs. The Rackwise®DCiM™ solution is a critical component of the USACE information technology strategies for managing both rack and floor space as well as data virtualization and storage optimization efforts. To this end, USACE is leveraging the Company’s education services to substantially expand the Corps’ Rackwise® DCiM™ solution user base, enabling greater utilization of available features and functionality to expedite achieving operational objectives while accelerating return on investment.

Guy A. Archbold, Rackwise, Inc. Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Rackwise® DCiM™ solutions are emerging as the solutions of choice providing data center and infrastructure technology professionals powerful, state-of-the-art tools for real-time data management to maximize operational efficiencies and economic benefits. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decision to significantly expand its utilization of our solutions further highlights the progressive incremental value customers can achieve with our product and service offerings. We continue to take great pride in knowing that when the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers supports our nation’s environmental resources and infrastructure, Rackwise is supporting the Corps’ technology infrastructure, enabling them to successfully pursue their mission to strengthen our Nation's security, energize the economy, and reduce risks from disasters.”

About the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approximately 37,000 dedicated civilians and soldiers delivering engineering services to customers in more than 90 countries worldwide.

With environmental sustainability as a guiding principle, the Corps of Engineers works diligently to strengthen our Nation’s security by building and maintaining America’s infrastructure and providing military facilities where service members train, work and live. The Corps of Engineers also researches and develops technology for U.S. military forces that protect America’s interests abroad by using the Corps’ engineering expertise to promote stability and improve quality of life.

The Corps energizes the economy by dredging America’s waterways to support the movement of critical commodities and providing recreation opportunities at our campgrounds, lakes and marinas. Additionally they devise hurricane and storm damage reduction infrastructure to reduce risks from disasters. The men and women in the Corps of Engineers are helping to protect and restore the Nation’s environment including critical efforts in the Everglades, the Louisiana coast, and along many of our Nation’s major waterways. The Corps is also cleaning sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste and material in an effort to sustain the environment.

About Rackwise, Inc.

Rackwise, Inc. is a leader in software development and marketing within the growing markets for IT infrastructure, data center monitoring, management and optimization, data center cost efficiency and green data centers and its branded Rackwise® Products and Services are used throughout the world. Its flagship data center infrastructure management suite of products and service offerings, DCiM™ Solutions, are used by over 150 companies worldwide to track, manage, plan, optimize and provide cost analysis of IT infrastructure.

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Novelos Therapeutics (OTCBB: NVLT) Successful Completion of First Cohort In Lung Cancer Trial

Northern, WI 4/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- Novelos Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCBB: NVLT), a pharmaceutical company developing novel drugs for treatment and diagnosis of cancer, today announced that the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, a leading oncology research institution, has successfully completed the first cohort in a Phase 1-2 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging trial of I-124-CLR1404 (LIGHT), a cancer-targeted PET imaging agent, in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The first cohort comprised three patients dosed with LIGHT at 5 mCi. Details of the trial design are available atwww.clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT00582283, or at www.novelos.comin the "Clinical Trials" section. Anne M. Traynor, M.D., is the trial's principal investigator. Detailed trial results are expected to be presented at a scientific venue at a later date.

"The preliminary results from the first cohort are encouraging. We see strong uptake of LIGHT in cancerous tumors against very low background and have not observed any adverse safety signals," said Dr. Traynor. "Although still early and in a small number of subjects, there is some suggestion that LIGHT imaging was more tumor-selective than the comparator modality 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET."

"Having observed initial cancer-specific uptake with LIGHT at 5 mCi in NSCLC patients, we now look forward to evaluating the next dose level in this indication," said Kim Hawkins, Vice President of Clinical Development of Novelos. "The protocol was prospectively designed to dose three patients at 3 mCi in the next cohort, as we seek to identify a minimally effective dose, and we look forward to obtaining these results in a few months."

"We are very pleased with the positive initial LIGHT imaging data in lung cancer patients obtained to date, and with our collaboration with the UW Carbone Cancer Center," said Harry Palmin, President and CEO of Novelos. "We believe these data begin to establish proof-of-concept for LIGHT as a PET imaging agent for NSCLC, could advance our partnering discussions and could be used to calculate effective doses for Phase 2 clinical trials of I-131-CLR1404 (HOT). HOT is our chemically identical small-molecule, broad-spectrum, cancer-targeted molecular radiotherapeutic that delivers cytotoxic radiation directly and selectively to cancer cells and cancer stem cells."

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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American Liberty Petroleum (OTCBB: OREO) Announces Foreland Refining's Crude Oil Purchase Contract

Northern, WI 4/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- American Liberty Petroleum Corp. (OTCBB:OREO) is pleased to announce that on April 19, 2012, Foreland Refining Corporation ("Foreland") signed an agreement to purchase all of the Company's crude oil production from the Gabbs Valley oil field in Nye County, Nevada. Foreland operates the Eagle Springs Refinery in Ely, Nevada, in neighboring White Pine County to the east. The refinery receives crude oil from Nevada's Railroad Valley and other oil wells to process into asphalt, diesel fuel and other petroleum products.

Foreland signed the crude oil purchase agreement with Independence Drilling LLC, the designated operator for a joint venture ("the JV") between American Liberty Petroleum, Cortez Exploration LLC and Desert Discoveries LLC. The JV was formed to acquire and develop oil and gas properties in Nevada with the aim of petroleum production.

According to the terms of the crude oil purchase agreement, Foreland will pay the "Big West Oil" Black Wax crude posting adjusted for gravity and B.S. & W. and less freight delivered to Foreland's Eagle Springs Refinery. Foreland will make its payments via wire transfer of funds on the 20th day of the month following the month of delivery.

American Liberty Petroleum's President, Alvaro Vollmers, commented: "We're fortunate to now have an agreement in place with a nearby refiner for the purchase of all subsequent production from our Gabbs Valley-based activities. Our next step is to maximize on the production potential of the Paradise 2-12 well while further exploring our other opportunities in the area.”

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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Iconix (Nasdaq: ICON) 1Q profit falls, cuts outlook, shares drop

Orlando, FL 4/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Iconix Brand Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ICON) tumbled 10 percent Wednesday morning after the clothing company reported that first-quarter net income fell 12 percent, hurt by weaker demand in its men's division and the delayed closing of a deal.

Results missed expectations and Iconix cut its forecast.

Iconix, which licenses clothing brands such as Candie's, Mossimo and London Fog, said net income for the three months ended March 31 fell to $27.6 million, or 37 cents per share. That compares with $31.4 million, or 42 cents per share, in the same months last year. Excluding a one-time charge related to interest expenses, net income was 43 cents per share, shy of analyst expectations of 45 cents per share.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $88.5 million from $92.4 million a year ago. Analysts expected revenue of $95 million.

Iconix said it is still waiting on government approval for a joint venture with Indian company Reliance Industries Group to sell Iconix's fashion brands in India, part of its plan to expand its international business. The deal was announced in February and was expected to close this quarter. It would have contributed $5 million to $6 million in revenue and 4 cents to 5 cents per share in net income. The company expects the deal to close in the second quarter, which ends in June, saying the delay "is purely a timing issue."

Iconix wants to increase international revenue, especially from fast-growing regions in Asia and Latin America, to a third of its business.

Also on Wednesday, Iconix cut its guidance due to weakness in its men's division, particularly Rocawear, Ecko and Ed Hardy, and other delays in international plans. The company said there are global initiatives it doesn't expect to complete this year.

It now expects adjusted net income in 2012 will be $1.65 to $1.74, from prior guidance of $1.77 to $1.84 per share. Analysts expect net income of $1.79 per share.

Iconix predicts 2012 revenue of $340 million to $350 million, from prior guidance of $370 million to $385 million. Analysts expect revenue of $377.5 million.

Shares fell $1.76, or 10.3 percent, to $15.26 in morning trading. The stock has ranged from $14.36 to $26.05 over the past 12 months, and is down about 7 percent in 2012.

Please contact www.thestreetbeat.com for interest in our latest investor relations platform the “CEO Interview Series” with its host Steve Kanaval. The package includes a one-on-one interview with a seasoned industry professional; published segment to our web site with embedded audio/video file; and a compressed file that can be easily e-mailed out to your current and/or potential investors. Please e-mail bflautt@gmail.com or call (662) 392-0740 for pricing and scheduling.

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