Trump administration still claims Obama manipulated jobs data

President Donald Trump continues to make claims about the unemployment rate, insisting that previous numbers were manipulated. However, after Friday’s strong employment report Trump insisted the numbers are real now. But the president isn’t the only one pointing fingers – his budget director also joined in saying he long-thought the Obama administration was changing the numbers. …read more

From:: Real Estate Wire

French presidential candidate Fillon charged in fake jobs scandal

French presidential hopeful Francois Fillon has been charged with misuse of public funds related to a fake jobs scandal that has significantly hurt his election campaign, media reports said on Tuesday. His lawyer, Antonin Levy, reportedly confirmed that Fillon was given the charges this morning after a hearing was brought forward “so that it could take place in a calm manner.” The conservative candidate was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether he used public funds to pay his wife and children for phony jobs. Fillon has consistently denied any wrongdoing and refused to end his bid to become France’s next president.

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From:: Stock Market News

Airline stocks drop as winter storm Stella grounds thousands of flights

Airline stocks slumped again Tuesday, as investors felt the impact of thousands of cancelled flights in the face of winter storm Stella. There have been 6,041 flights cancelled Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com, as well as 2,352 delays. Among the more-active airlines, shares of American Airlines Group Inc. shed 3% to a four-month low in morning trade, with the carrier saying it had canceled more than 1,675 flights Tuesday, and 400 flights Wednesday because of the storm. Delta Air Lines Inc.’s stock slid 1.6%, also toward a four-month closing low. Delta said it had canceled 130 flights on Monday and 800 flights on Tuesday. Elsewhere, shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. dropped 3.4%, of Southwest Airlines Co. slumped 2% and of JetBlue Airways Corp. lost 1.7%. The NYSE Arca Airline Index gave up 1.3% to a 3 1/2-month low, after shedding 0.6% on Monday. The index was down 4.5% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Wave of LOS Integrations

Developers of loan originations systems have recently been busy integrating the offerings of other mortgage service providers into their systems. Several LOS upgrades have been announced.

Ellie Mae Inc. unveiled this month Encompass Developer Connect — a portal into the Encompass lending platform. It provides developers with documentation and tools supporting application programing interfaces.

The API enables developers to extend Encompass to add new functions, easily integrate Encompass with external systems and data and build and deploy custom applications in the cloud.


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From:: Financing

U.S. stocks open lower as energy weighs

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, with energy shares leading the decline after a report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries showed production out of Saudi Arabia rose, which could lead to a price-depressing level of oversupply. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%, or 45 points, to 20,837. The S&P 500 lost 8 points, or 0.3%, to 2,366. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 19 points, or 0.3%, to 5,857. Among major energy names, Exxon Mobil lose 0.4% while Chevron Corp. sank 1.2%. Trading may be unusually light as a massive winter storm across the Northeast could keep many traders away from their desks. Investors were also holding back from making big bets with major indexes near records and the Federal Reserve set to start a two-day meeting that is widely expected to result in higher interest rates.

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From:: Stock Market News

Air Methods agrees to be bought by American Securities in a deal valuing the company at $1.6 bln

Air Methods Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to to be bought out by American Securities LLC, in a deal with a total enterprise value of about $2.5 billion, including debt. Under terms of the deal, American Securities will pay $43 in cash for each Air Methods share outstanding, which is 3.9% above Monday’s closing price of $41.40. At the buyout bid price, the air medical transport provider would have a market capitalization of about $1.57 billion, according to FactSet data. The deal is expected to close by the end of the end of June. Air Method’s stock is currently halted for news, and is set to resume trade at 9:00 a.m. ET. It had run up 30% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 had gained 6%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Editas Medicine surges 8% on $90 million Allergan research and development deal

Editas Medicine Inc. surged 8.4% in premarket trade Tuesday after it announced a $90 million research and development deal with Allergan . Under the agreement, Allergan will receive exclusive access and a licensing option for up to five of Editas’ genome-editing ocular programs focusing on serious diseases, including a lead, pre-clinical program called LCA10 for Leber Congenital Amaurosis, a rare degenerative eye disease that causes blindness. The agreement also includes additional payments for LCA10 milestones, along with the possibility of development and commercial milestones and royalty payments, and Editas can co-develop and co-promote up to two optioned products in the U.S. Editas benefited greatly from a February court decision related to the gene-editing technique CRISPR. Eye care is one part of Allergan’s aesthetics business, which is seen as one of its most valuable assets. Company shares have surged 48.6% over the last three months, compared with a 5.3% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News

Pacira Pharmaceuticals stock rises 2% on positive late-stage trial for opioid-reducing pain medication

Pacira Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares rose 2% in premarket trade Tuesday after the company said its medication intended for postsurgical pain and opioid reduction met primary endpoints in a phase 4 clinical trial. A pain regimen with the drug, Exparel, was tested against a bupivacaine-based pain regimen involving other drugs in 139 patients undergoing knee replacement surgery. Pacira said the drug met two key secondary endpoints and that further analysis was being done of other secondary endpoints. Pacira shares have surged 50.7% over the last three months, compared with a 5.3% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News

IT consulting firm Cognizant launches $1.5 billion accelerated share buyback

IT consulting firm Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. said Tuesday it has entered into an accelerated $1.5 billion share buyback agreement with Barclays Bank PLC, Citibank N.A., and UBS AG, London Branch. Under terms of the deal, Cognizant will receive about 21.5 million shares on March 14. The final number will be based on the volume-weighed average stock price less a discount and other potential adjustments. The final settlement of the agreement is expected to take place during or before the third quarter. The company will fund the repurchases using cash and its existing credit facility. Shares were indicating higher premarket, and have gained about 2% in the last 12 months, underperforming the S&P 500’s 17.5% gain.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News