Pre-Market Stock News (June 18, 2007)

(AA) An ALCOA bid from BHP may be kindled according to numerous M&A reports.
(ADVNA) Advanta trades ex-split to reflect a 3-2 stock split.
(AGU) Agrium said earnings will be at or above the upper end of its $1.45 to $1.55 range.
(BBI) Blockbuster is going to favor the Blu-Ray HD discs.
(BNHNA) Benihana $0.35 EPS vs $0.30e.
(BWLD) Buffalo Wild Wings trades ex-split to reflect a 2-1 stock split.
(CEPH) Cephalon received FDA Marketing approval of Nuvigil for excessive sleepiness.
(CVTX) CV Therapeutics traded up on Cramer recommendation.
(DJ) Dow Jones may get a rival bid from Pearson and General Electric.
(ECIL) ECI Telecom in discussions for potential takeovers at $10.00 per share.
(ENCY) Encysive Pharma trading down 50%; announced third ‘approvable’letter from FDA for Thelin for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension, but it did not demonstrate the evidence of effectiveness needed for approval and may have to drastically cut costs.
(ESC) Emeritus Corp announces a 10.5 million share common stock offering; 9 million shares were from the company and 1.5 million from selling shareholders.
(FRN) Friendly Ice Cream going private at $15.50.
(FTEK) Fuel-Tech gets two orders totaling $2 million.
(GCO) Genesco gets $54.50 per share offer and buyout from Finish Line.
(KERX) Keryx Bio announced its CFO is resigning.
(LXRX) Lexicon Pharma secured a major investment in the company as a two part investment: $205 million and $60 million.
(MSFT) Microsoft making investment in Chinese television and media makers to change IPTV to Mediaroom.
(NVDA) NVIDIA noted as speculative chip play by Cramer.
(OBAS) Optibase won encoder pact from Huawei for IPTV.
(PAY) Verifone announced a $275 million senior convertible note offering.
(THRM) Thermage says FDA clears indication for Thermacool system.
(VICL) Vical licensee AnGes MG announces positive results of Phase 3 angiogenesis trial in Japan.
(VRAZ) Veraz platform chosen by Golden Telecom for an upgrade of its TDM network to a next-generation network.
(XFML) Xinhua Finance Media wins contract to re-brand Hebei Movie & Drama TV channel.

Jon C. Ogg
June 18, 2007