Solar power plants in Germany produced a record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour on Saturday, according to Reuters. This was enough to meet 50% of the country's electric power needs for the day.
The German government decided to shut down all nuclear power plants by 2022, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Those plants will be replaced by renewable energy sources including wind and solar.
Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) will eliminate at least 2,000 jobs and possibly more, according to Toronto's Globe and Mail citing sources.
The layoffs are part of a global restructuring to begin in the next couple of weeks. RIM has 16,500 employees worldwide.
Klafter Olsen & Lesser has filed a securities class action complaint against Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), certain of its officers, and the lead underwriters of its May 18, 2012 Initial Public Offering in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Civil Action No. 12-cv-4194) on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased the Class A common stock of Facebook pursuant to the IPO, except for defendants and certain entities that were informed by Defendants of the material information concealed from Plaintiff and the class.
Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Facebook informed analysts at the lead underwriters, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Goldman Sachs & Co. to materially lower their financial estimates for Facebook's second quarter of 2012 which information was only conveyed by the underwriter defendants to a select few of their customers and that the disclosures in the Registration Statement and Prospectus for the IPO were woefully inadequate to disclose this material information. Plaintiff further alleges that as this news began to come out on May 21 and 22, 2012, Facebook stock lost 18 percent of its value, causing investors approximately $2.5 billion in losses.
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) announced that its Board of Directors has elected John T. Standley, who is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company's Board of Directors, to the additional position of Chairman of the Board, effective June 21, 2012 at the Company's annual stockholder meeting.
Standley will succeed Mary Sammons, who has served as Chairman since June, 2007, and whose term of service as Chairman, concludes as of the June annual meeting.
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) announced Friday that it will increase global prices for all grades of ibuprofen by an estimated 15% effective immediately, or as contracts allow.
Tranzyme Pharma (NASDAQ: TZYM) and Norgine B.V. announced Friday top-line results of the primary analysis of ULISES 008, the second of two Phase 3 pivotal trials evaluating ulimorelin in postoperative ileus. Consistent with the ULISES 007 data released in March 2012, ULISES 008 did not meet the primary and secondary endpoints as there was no statistical difference between the ulimorelin and placebo groups. The two trials were identical in design and population.
Today, Carl Icahn reported a 7.56% stake in natural gas and oil company Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), explaining in a letter to Chesapeake that the company's current corporate governance is flawed.
He says splitting the roles of CEO and Chairman was a positive step for Chesapeake, but that he thinks Chesapeake should have shareholder representation on the board. Icahn suggests that four board members be replaced, two selected by him and two selected by another significant shareholder, such as Southeastern Asset Management.
He also voices a need for shareholder involvement in the search for a chairman. Icahn writes, "Having the current board select a new chairman without shareholder approval and without allowing for shareholder representation is akin to asking the fox, who has plundered the hen house, to choose another fox to assist it in standing guard over the remaining hens."
This news occurred after corporate governance concerns surrounding CEO Aubrey McClendon have contributed to an approximate 29% decline in Chesapeake's stock price year to date.
Icahn writes that he believes Chesapeake has valuable assets and that its low stock price is due to "an ever changing business strategy, enormous capital funding gap, poor governance, and unchecked risk taking."
Shares of Chesapeake were trading around 1.5% higher during after hours.
NASB Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: NASB) announced today that its subsidiary institution, North American Savings Bank, F.S.B. has agreed to a Consent Order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency , the Bank's primary regulator. This Consent Order replaces and terminates the previous Supervisory Agreement the Bank had entered with the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Bank's previous federal regulator.
Pursuant to Title III of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, all supervisory functions of OTS relating to federal savings associations were transferred to the OCC on July 21, 2011. As a result, the OCC assumed the responsibility for ongoing supervision and regulation of the Bank. The legislation continued all OTS agreements, regulations, guidelines, procedures, and other advisory materials in effect the day before the transfer date, and allowed the OCC to administer these documents until the documents were modified, terminated, set aside, or superseded by the OCC.
The Consent Order requires, like the Supervisory Agreement that it replaces, that the Bank establish various plans and programs to improve the asset quality of the Bank and to ensure the adequacy of allowances for loan and lease losses. The Consent Order also requires the Bank to obtain an independent assessment of its allowance for loan and lease losses methodology, to conduct independent third-party reviews of its commercial and construction loan portfolios and to enhance its credit administration systems.
Among other items, it also requires that the Bank's written capital maintenance plan will contain objectives that ensure the Bank's Tier 1 leverage capital remains equal to or greater than 10% of adjusted total assets and that the Bank's risk-based capital remains equal to or greater than 13% of risk-weighted assets. As of March 31, 2012, the most recent quarter-end, the Bank's actual Tier 1 leverage ratio and risk-based capital ratio were well above these levels at 13.5% and 16.5%, respectively.
Insignia Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIG) today announced the appointment of Glen Dall as the Company's President. Mr. Dall has been the Company's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since March 2012. Prior to his appointment to EVP and COO, Mr. Dall had been the Company's Vice President of Corporate Development since September 2009.
Before joining the Company, Mr. Dall served in several varying roles at Valassis Communications, Inc. for 19 years, most recently as a Director of CPG Sales.
ZaZa Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: ZAZA) today announced that on May 21, 2012, the Company received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, as expected, indicating that since ZaZa has not filed the Company's Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2012, the Company does not comply with NASDAQ's Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) for continued listing. Currently, the Company is required to submit a plan to regain compliance with NASDAQ's continued listing requirements no later than June 18, 2012. The NASDAQ notice has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company's common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market.