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Oil futures held onto earlier gains Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 23. A 3.2 million-barrel climb was expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a decline of 752,000 barrels, according to sources. The EIA has now reported unexpected supply declines for four weeks in a row. Gasoline supplies, meanwhile, rose by 2 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were down 1.9 million barrels, according to the EIA. November crude rose 57 cents, or 1.3%, from Tuesday’s settlement to $45.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $45.30 before the data.

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RBC Capital Markets raised Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s price target by more than double the current level to $108 a share on Wednesday. In raising its target, the bank cited its interviews with key opinion leaders and survey of 100 neurologists about Sarepta’s recently-approved Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug. Sarepta shares rose 4.7% in morning trade Wednesday. Though the price target increase is sizable given the company’s current $62.45 share price, analyst Simos Simeonidis said its basis was “some pretty conservative assumptions, which represent potential for real upside.” RBC Capital Markets’ investor call with three experienced neurologists who treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy revealed they were “positive overall” and even bullish about Sarepta’s Exondys 51, suggesting that “neurologists [are] likely to recommend EXONDYS 51 to majority of patients.” Simeonidis predicted a “very successful launch” of the drug, “once the logistics of reimbursement are slowly ironed out for patients in the first 2-3 quarters.” Though RBC Capital Markets’ outlook may seem overly bullish, Simeonidis said, the company’s model used the worst-case scenario in terms of patent litigation and didn’t include for markets for the drug outside of the U.S. and European Union. Sarepta shares rose 246.1% over the last three months, compared with a 6.1% rise in the S&P 500 .

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday said the financial condition of the top U.S. banks has “strengthened considerably” since the financial crisis as she outlined steps the central bank is considering to make bigger banks have larger cushions and have smaller banks face less stringent requirements. The eight largest global systemically important banks have seen an increase of nearly $800 billion in common equity capital since 2008, Yellen said. “We must carefully monitor the impact of the regulatory changes we have made and remain vigilant regarding the potential emergence of new risks to financial stability,” Yellen said in prepared remarks before the House Financial Services Committee. Yellen made no mention of the recent Wells Fargo scandal in her prepared remarks.

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Anavex Life Sciences Corp. shares rose 37.7% in morning trade Wednesday to $4.35 per share after the biotech said it signed an agreement with Biogen Inc. to test its lead drug candidate. Biogen’s testing will examine the remyelination ability of the drug, ANAVEX 2-73, in an effort to treat diseases such as multiple sclerosis. ANAVEX 2-73 is currently in midstage clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, and has grant funding to be studied for Parkinson’s disease, Anavex said. Anavex shares dropped 12.0% over the last three months, compared with a 6.2% rise in the S&P 500 .

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From:: Stock Market News

U.S. stocks on Wednesday traded marginally higher as Wall Street got a lift from higher crude-oil futures and awaited comments from a roster of expected Federal Reserve speakers later in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 37 points, or 0.2%, higher at 18,267, the S&P 500 index advanced about 3 points, or 0.2%, at 2,163, while the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 6 points, or 0.1%, at 5,312. Chairwoman Janet Yellen is due to testify about regulation and supervision before a House panel on financial services at 10 a.m. Eastern, while. Elsewhere, St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard is expected to deliver opening remarks at the St. Louis Fed’s conference on community banking at 10:15 a.m. Eastern. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is slated to speak at 1:30 p.m. Eastern about the economy at that same confab. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is set to make remarks on the economic outlook and monetary policy at a forum in the Cleveland area at 4:35 p.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate oil trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 1.2% at $45.25 a barrel, as energy traders watched for headlines from a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Procter & Gamble & Co. gained 1.1% to lead Dow components in early trade.

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Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it has introduced a new Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, priced for $39.99. It’s now available for pre-order, and will start shipping to U.S. customers on Oct. 20. The latest version is up to 30% faster than the original, according to Amazon, and allows access to more than 7,000 channels, apps and Alexa skills. Later this year, a free software update will improve browsing. Amazon shares are nearly flat in premarket trading, but up almost 62% for the past year. The S&P 500 Index is up 14.8% for the last 12 months.

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SolarCity Corp. said Wednesday that President Tanguy Serra, who also oversaw finance, will leave the company at the end of the year, as the company is expected to be acquired by Tesla Motors Inc. . The clean energy company said it promoted Radford Small to chief financial officer. Small, who joined SolarCity from Goldman Sachs, was previously executive vice president of global capital markets at Tesla. SolarCity’s stock, which gained 0.8% in premarket trade, has plunged 61% year to date through Tuesday, while Tesla shares have lost 14% and the S&P 500 has gained 5.7%. Separately, SolarCity said it has partnered with Citigroup Inc. to create funds to finance over $347 million in solar projects.

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Propane supplier Ferrellgas Partners L.P. said Wednesday it had a net loss of $654.8 million, or $6.68 per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter to July 31, wider than the loss of $58.2 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $409.5 million from $382.5 million. The FactSet consensus was for a loss of 46 cents a share and revenue of $462 million. “As we highlighted last quarter, record temperatures across the nation continue to have an adverse impact on the propane sector of our company and low oil prices have seriously damaged our midstream sector,” Founder and Interim Chief Executive James Ferrell said in a statement. “In particular, unusually warm winters over the past two years drove down propane sales across all our geographies, and low crude oil prices have negatively impacted our midstream logistics business.” The company said the increase in debt it took on to fund the acquisition of Bridger, a recent settlement with Jamex and the impact of warm weather had combined to raise its leverage ratio to close to the 5.5 times limit on some of its borrowing. The company has obtained an amendment raising the maximum leverage ratio to 5.9 times to 6.05 times over the next six quarters. it will now focus on reducing debt and lowering its leverage ratio, and may reduce its quarterly distribution to about $1.00 per unit vs. $2.05. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 0.6% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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Shares of BlackBerry Ltd. surged 6.6% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the smartphone maker surprisingly reported a breakeven quarter and raised its full-year outlook. The company reported a net loss of $372 million, or 71 cents a share, for the fiscal second quarter to Aug. 31, compared with a profit of $51 million, or a per-share loss of 24 cents, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted per-share earnings were breakeven, compared with the FactSet consensus for a loss of 5 cents per share. Revenue dropped to $334 million from $490 million, below the FactSet consensus of $392 million. The company said it now expects full-year adjusted per-share earnings of breakeven to a loss of 5 cents, compared with the FactSet consensus for a per-share loss of 16 cents. “We are reaching an inflection point with our strategy,” said Chief Executive John Chen. “Our financial foundation is strong, and our pivot to software is taking hold.” Separately, BlackBerry said Chief Financial Officer James Yersh is leaving the company for personal reasons, and named Steven Capelli as his replacement. Capelli was previously president of worldwide field operations at Sybase. The company also announced an agreement to license its software and services to PT BB Merah Putih for production of handsets in Indonesia. The stock had dropped 15% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 had gained 5.7%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Propane supplier Ferrellgas Partners L.P. said Wednesday it has named founder James Ferrell as interim chief executive. Ferrell will replace Stephen Wambold, who is stepping down. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 0.6% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 6%.

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From:: Stock Market News