Cal-Maine Foods loss narrows, but is wider than expected

Cal-Maine Foods Inc. reported Monday a fiscal first-quarter net loss which narrowed to $16.0 million, or 33 cents a share, from $30.9 million, or 64 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for a per-share loss of 18 cents. Revenue for the quarter to Sept. 2 rose to $262.8 million from $239.8 million, missing the FactSet consensus of $264.1 million. Dozens of eggs sold increased to 249,464 from 242,325 and the net average selling price per dozen increased to $1.017 from $0.952, while the net average price of specialty eggs decreased to $1.878 per dozen from $1.973. “While we are disappointed to report a loss for the quarter, we are encouraged by the year-over-year improvement in our performance,” said Chief Executive Dolph Baker. “Our results reflect continued solid retail demand and a modest increase in both volumes and prices compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2017.” The stock, which was inactive in premarket trade, has climbed 3.8% over the past three months while the S&P 500 has gained 4.0%.

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Shooting rampage in Las Vegas leaves up to 20 injured: reports

A gunman opened fire at a country-music concert in Las Vegas on Sunday evening, causing scenes of panic and chaos in the crowd, according to reports on news and social media. Police in Las Vegas said they are “investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino,” asking people to avoid the area. Parts of Interstate 15 freeway were closed off, and some flights destined for McCarran Airport in Las Vegas have been diverted. So far, 20 people have been treated for gunshot wounds, a hospital spokesperson said, the BBC reported

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Altice, Disney reach tentative cable deal, averting ESPN, ABC blackout

Altice USA cable customers can breathe easy — they won’t lose their ESPN. The cable company and Walt Disney Co. reached a tentative agreement late Sunday to keep ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels on the air to millions of subscribers in the New York area. The companies had been in a dispute over how much Altice would pay for the Disney channels. “We have reached an agreement in principle and have extended the deadline accordingly to try and finalize the terms,” the companies said in a joint statement. The contract between Disney and Altice, the fourth-largest cable operator in the U.S., expired Saturday.

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FC Barcelona wins in silence as Catalan referendum descends into chaos

The legendary soccer club FC Barcelona opted to play Sunday’s match against Las Palmas before an empty stadium as the city and its Catalonian region descended into chaos over an independence referendum that the Spanish Constitutonal Court had ruled illegal. Leo Messi scored two goals in a 3-0 league win over the Canary Islands side. FC Barcelona decided just 25 minutes before kickoff to play behind closed doors at the 99,000-plus-capacity Camp Nou, according to a BBC report, after the La Liga rejection of a club request that the match be postponed in light of the atmosphere outside the ground, which by then reportedly featured a violent national-police crackdown on demonstrators and voters. The league, according to the BBC report, was believed to have threatened a penalty against league-table leader Barcelona equivalent to a stripping away of two victories for a unilateral decision to postpone the match.

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Two dead after knife attack in France train station: reports

Two women were killed Sunday at a train station in Marseille, France, by an attacker with a knife, according to media reports. The assailant was shot dead by police, but not before he stabbed one woman to death and cut the throat of the other woman, the BBC reported. The station has been evacuated, and an investigation has been opened, according to officials, the Associated Press reported.

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Mormon leader reaffirms faith’s opposition to gay marriage

A top Mormon leader reaffirmed the religion’s opposition to same-sex marriage on Saturday during a conference watched by members around the world, the Associated Press reported. Dallin Oaks, a member of a top governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, urged members to follow church teachings that dictate marriage should be reserved for heterosexual men and women. He said that’s the ideal home for children to be raised. He acknowledged that view contradicts federal protections under legalized gay marriage in the United States. “We have witnessed a rapid and increasing public acceptance of cohabitation without marriage and same-sex marriage. The corresponding media advocacy, education and even occupational requirements pose difficult challenges for Latter Day Saints,” Oaks said, according to the AP. “We must try to balance the competing demands of following the gospel law in our personal lives and teachings even as we seek to show love for all.” After the Utah-based church received backlash in 2008 for helping lead the fight for California’s Proposition 8 constitutional ban on gay marriage, religious leaders have said they had worked to develop a more empathetic LGBT tone, but in 2015 the church adopted new rules banning children living with gay parents from being baptized until age 18.

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Criminal investigation opened against Texas chemical plant compromised by Harvey

A Texas chemical plant where flooding during Hurricane Harvey caused multiple explosions is under criminal investigation. The Houston Chronicle reported late Friday that the Harris County district attorney’s office confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into Arkema’s actions before the explosions that sent fire and columns of black smoke shooting into the air. Authorities had evacuated a 1.5-mile radius around the plant in Crosby, about 25 miles northeast of Houston. In at least one separate case, first responders are suing the company, claiming they were left vomiting and gasping for breath because of the fumes from the explosion of volatile organic peroxides. Their suit says Arkema did not have proper procedures to keep the chemicals cooled in case of a flood or emergency. Arkema declined to comment on the suits or the investigation to the Chronicle, but has repeatedly said the explosions did not pose a safety concern if residents obeyed the evacuation.

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SEC charges two initial coin offerings with fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a businessman and two of his companies for defrauding investors in an alleged initial coin offering scheme, the agency said late Friday. The SEC said it charged Maksim Zaslavskiy along with REcoin Group Foundation and DRC World with selling unregistered cryptocurrency securities reputedly backed by investments in real estate and diamonds, when it found no such investments had taken place. The SEC said it obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Zaslavskiy and his companies.

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AIG no longer a threat to U.S. financial stability, FSOC says

Shares of American International Group Inc. advanced in the extended session Friday after the Treasury Department’s Financial Stability Oversight Council said the insurer no longer posed a threat to U.S. financial stability. AIG shares rose 1.7% to $62.45 after hours. The council voted six to three that AIG was no longer a risk to financial stability. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the FSOC determined in July 2013 that “material financial distress” at AIG “could pose a threat to U.S. financial stability” and should be subject to supervision by the Federal Reserve.

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Tom Price out as HHS secretary after private-jet scandal

Tom Price has resigned as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday. Sanders said in a statement that Price “offered his resignation earlier today and the president accepted.” Trump earlier Friday indicated that he was close to firing Price, whose private-jet use has caused a major scandal for the administration and angered Trump. Sanders said Trump will nominate Don Wright to serve as acting secretary as of Friday evening. Wright is currently deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

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