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Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. tacked on 1.3% in premarket trade Monday, after the air carrier said November load factor rose from a year ago, as traffic growth outpaced an increase in capacity. Load factor was 85.4% last month, up from 85.0% a year ago. Traffic increased 3.5% to 16.15 billion revenue passenger miles, while capacity rose 2.9% to 18.91 billion available seat miles. Passengers boarded rose 1.5% to 14.89 billion, and mainline on-time performance improved to 93.6% from 91.4%. The company said it set a record system and domestic revenue day during the Thanksgiving travel period on Sunday, Nov. 26. The stock has rallied 9.6% over the past three months through Friday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has climbed 6.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

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Riot Blockchain Inc. said Monday it has closed a CAD$10.5 million investment in its Coinsquare holding, led by an unnamed global asset manager with more than a trillion dollars in assets under management. Coinsquare is a Candian digital currency exchange, whose valuation is now more than 3 times what it was when Riot invested in it in September. Riot Blockchain started life as diagnostic machinery biotech stock Biopix Inc., before pivoting to cryptocurrencies and changing its name. The company aims to support blockchain technologies, which underlie digital currencies, such as bitcoin. Shares were last up 10% premarket, and have gained 291% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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CBOE Global Markets Inc. said Monday that it will launch trading of bitcoin futures on Sunday, Dec. 10. Trading will begin, under the ticker symbol “XBT,” at the start of global trading hours at 6 p.m. ET, and will be free through December. The futures will be cash-settled contracts based on Gemini’s auction price for bitcoin, denominated in U.S. dollars. “Given the unprecedented interest in bitcoin, it’s vital we provide clients the trading tools to help them express their views and hedge their exposure,” said CBOE Chief Executive Ed Tilly. CBOE said the move comes as the total value of bitcoin outstanding has grown from less than $1 billion to over $183 billion over the last five years, with daily turnover at over $10 billion. The total value of all cryptocurrency tokens outstanding is about $332 billion. CBOE’s stock has run up 68% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Seres Therapeutics Inc. shares dropped 7.4% in premarket trade on Monday after the company said its microbiome therapy intended for ulcerative colitis received an orphan drug designation from the Food and Drug Administration. The therapy, SER-287, has been studied in a phase 1b trial in patients with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis who were failing current therapies, and the FDA reviewed those results in the orphan drug determination, Seres said. SER-287 is a cutting-edge therapy that is taken orally and contains “a consortium of live bacterial spores” to work on the microbiome, or microorganisms like bacteria and viruses in the body. Typically a company’s shares rise on an orphan drug designation, which is intended for products that treat a rare disease, and provides various development incentives, including seven years of marketing exclusivity, tax credits and the waiver of some regulatory fees. But Seres shares have dropped before on seemingly-positive results: when the company released early-stage trial results for SER-287 in early October, investors noted that clinical response was the same for the therapy as the placebo, and shares fell nearly 20%. SER-287 is intended for ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that affects the colon and rectum and can cause inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract. Roche and Celgene are also developing ulcerative colitis drugs,etrolizumab andGED-0301. Seres shares have dropped 24% over the last three months to $10.55, compared with a 6.7% rise in the S&P 500 and a 10.2% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .

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ConocoPhillips said Monday it will receive $337 million in a settlement with Ecuador on terms of payment to its unit Burlington. The settlement was reached under a February 2017 International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration award, the oil company said in a statement. Ecuador paid the company $75 million on Dec. 1 and will pay the balance by April of 2018. The settlement includes an offset for the decision awarding Ecuador $42 million on its counterclaims, of which Burlington is entitled to an additional $24 million through a third-party contribution, said the company. The ISCID Tribunal ruled in 2012 that Ecuador had unlawfully expropriated the company’s oil investments. Shares were slightly lower premarket, but have gained 3% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Shares of Digital Power Corp. rocketed 40% in premarket trade Monday, after the company said its Coolisys Technologies subsidiary launched a line of power systems for use in the mining of cryptocurrencies. The company said the new product line resulted from the previously announced deal with PoW Digital Mining. The company is looking to take advantage of the fact that the top issue of cryptocurrency miners is energy costs. “We have a competitive advantage given our expertise in developing and providing advance power solutions for the tech, military, industrial and healthcare sectors,” said Chief Executive Amos Kohn. “We project our cryptocurrency initiatives and products could have a material effect on the Company’s revenues and net income for this component of its operations during 2018.” The stock has more than tripled over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 6.7%.

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Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said Monday it is once again borrowing in the bond market to repay debt. The Laval, Quebec-based company said it is planning to offer $1 billion of senior notes due 2025. Proceeds will used to repurchase $1 billion of its outstanding 5.3755 notes due 2020, as well as 7.000% notes due 2020 and 6.3755 notes due 2020. The company is further planning to repay 4175 million of sums outstanding under its revolving credit facility this week, using cash on hand. Valeant, which is still trying to rebound from a series of accounting and drug pricing scandals from 2015, has said it expects to beat its target of reducing debt by $5 billion by 2018. The company still hasabout $27 billion of long-term debt, according to FactSet. Shares were up 2% premarket, and have gained 19% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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Broadcom Ltd. said it notified Qualcomm Inc. that it plans to nominate 11 individuals for election to Qualcomm’s board of directors at the annual meeting, which currently consists of 11 directors. Broadcom said the proxy battle comes after Qualcomm has “ignored” repeated attempts to discuss its buyout bid, which would value Qualcomm at nearly $105 billion, and was rejected by Qualcomm last month. “In light of the significant value our proposal provides for Qualcomm stockholders, we believe Qualcomm stockholders would be better served by new independent, highly qualified nominees who are committed to maximizing value and acting in the best interests of Qualcomm stockholders,” said Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan. Qualcomm’s annual meeting is scheduled for March 6, 2018. Qualcomm’s stock fell 0.8% in premarket trade, while Broadcom shares climbed 0.9%. Year to date, shares of Qualcomm have tacked on 0.4%, Broadcom has rallied 54% and the S&P 500 has climbed 18%.

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Shares of vitamin store chain GNC Holdings Inc. surged almost 6% in premarket trade Monday, after the company said it was pulling plans to borrow in the bond and loan markets and has hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate its alternatives. The company was planning to offer five-year notes and to enter a new term loan facility and asset-based revolving credit facility, but has decided against it because the terms on offer were not in its best interests. “Our focus remains on continuing to build momentum behind our One New GNC strategy and ensuring we have the appropriate capital structure to support those efforts,” Chief Executive Ken Martindale said in a statement. The company is sticking with its full-year free cash flow target of $190 million to $210 million and has $40.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, as well as $246.1 million undrawn under a revolving credit facility as of Sept. 30. Shares have fallen 51% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 18%.

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