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Anadarko Petroleum Corp. announced plans on Tuesday to cut its capital expenditures by nearly 50% in 2016 and monetize up to $3 billion in assets. The company’s onshore activities will be reduced the most, by almost $2.5 billion in capex year-over-year. Those plans include reducing its onshore rig count by 80% to five operated rigs from an average of 25 in 2015. In the Gulf of Mexico, the company will shift its focus to tieback oil opportunities, which it says are more capital-efficient and offer returns of more than 30% today’s strip prices. In international markets, Anadarko will focus efforts to advance its Paon oil discovery offshore Cote d’Ivoire to potential development. Its shares, while inactive in premarket trade, are down more than 37% over the last three months and 55% over the last year, vastly underperforming the S&P 500.

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Shares of United Technologies Corp. dropped 4.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Honeywell International Inc. said it was ending its pursuit of a merger with the rival industrial conglomerate, because of United Tech’s “unwillingness to engage in negotiations.” Honeywell’s stock climbed 2.2% in premarket trade. Honeywell said it strongly disagreed with United Tech’s assertion that there was a high risk that a merger of the companies would be blocked by antitrust regulators. Honeywell said it believes a merger would have created considerable value through $3.5 billion in cost synergies, and did not believe the regulatory environment would have presented any material obstacles. “However, continuing to try to negotiate with an unwilling partner is inconsistent with our disciplined acquisition process,” said Honeywell Chief Executive Dave Cote.

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

Shares of United Technologies Corp. dropped 4.2% in premarket trade Tuesday, after Honeywell International Inc. said it was ending its pursuit of a merger with the rival industrial conglomerate, because of United Tech’s “unwillingness to engage in negotiations.” Honeywell’s stock climbed 2.2% in premarket trade. Honeywell said it strongly disagreed with United Tech’s assertion that there was a high risk that a merger of the companies would be blocked by antitrust regulators. Honeywell said it believes a merger would have created considerable value through $3.5 billion in cost synergies, and did not believe the regulatory environment would have presented any material obstacles. “However, continuing to try to negotiate with an unwilling partner is inconsistent with our disciplined acquisition process,” said Honeywell Chief Executive Dave Cote.

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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First Solar Inc.’s stock fell 1.7% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the solar energy company was downgraded at J.P. Morgan analyst Paul Coster, who said the company’s solid fundamentals are now fully priced. Coster cut his rating to neutral, after being at overweight since June 24, 2013. The stock has run up 8.9% year to date through Monday, to close above Coster’s year-end stock price target of $69, while the S&P 500 has lost 5.5% this year. He said he was keeping his earnings estimates and stock price target intact. “Furthermore, we believe First Solar’s 2016-2018 fundamentals remain solid,” Coster wrote in a note to clients. “[First Solar] is probably the highest-quality stock in the solar space, so it pains us to step aside at this time and in this manner, but the risk-reward trade-off seems balanced here, in our view.”

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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Dollar Tree Inc. shares slumped 6.4% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the retailer missed sales estimates for the fourth quarter. The company said it had net income of $229 million, or 97 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $206.6 million, or $1.00 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.16, ahead of the FactSet consensus of $1.07. Sales rose to $5.27 billion from $2.48 billion, but were below the FactSet consensus of $5.41 billion. The company said it now expects first-quarter EPS of 75 cents to 83 cents, and sales of $5.05 billion to $5.12 billion. The FactSet consensus is for first=quarter EPS of 81 cents and sales of $5.09 billion. Shares have gained 0.4% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 is down 8%.

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Kate Spade & Co.’s stock dropped 4.1% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the women’s accessories seller missed fiscal fourth-quarter sales expectations and provided a downbeat full-year outlook. For the quarter ended Jan. 2, earnings fell to $61.5 million, or 48 cents a share, from $126.5 million, or 99 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 32 cents, matching the FactSet consensus. Revenue rose 14% to $428.96 million, which was below the FactSet consensus of $441 million, as both North America and international sales fell shy of expectations. For 2016, sales are expected to be $1.385 billion to $1.410 billion, and EPS is seen at 70 cents to 80 cents; the FactSet consensus is for sales of $1.44 billion and EPS of 82 cents. The stock has climbed 12% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 has lost 5.5%.

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