Halister News

Information from person familiar with the matter, who is not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. --ALLAN LOPEZ

--ARIE SHAPIRA

(Bloomberg) -- Following are forecasts for today’s economic releases as compiled by Bloomberg News.

• Initial Claims 235k; range 228k to 255k (42 estimates)
• Cont. Claims 1894k; range 1850k to 1986k (7 estimates)
• In the prior report, jobless claims rose from a 44-year low to 233,000
• "Despite the slight increase, the level of initial claims points to a solid economic backdrop since businesses have opted to maintain work forces amid anticipated gains in demand”: Bloomberg Intelligence
• Productivity 2.6% q/q; range 1.3% to 3.5% (47 estimates)
• Unit Labor Costs 0.4% q/q; range -0.8% to 2.5% (41 estimates)
• "Non-farm productivity growth will likely surge in 3Q, however, such a result should be taken with caution. Non-farm output growth -- the numerator in the productivity calculation - - was artificially boosted in the aftermath of the hurricanes, temporarily inflating inventories and weighing on imports”: Bloomberg Intelligence
• In the second quarter, productivity rose 1.5 percent, the largest gain since the third quarter of last year

To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Middleton in Washington at cmiddleton2@bloomberg.net; Vincent Del Giudice in Denver at vdelgiudice@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net Kristy Scheuble

(Bloomberg) -- Juno Therapeutics indicated $49.12/$49.80 in pre-market vs $48.31 close after SunTrust analyst Peter Lawson upgraded to buy from hold and raised his PT to $65 from $25, writing that the co.’s experimental CAR-T therapy, JCAR017, is demonstrating best-in-class safety and efficacy.

• Beyond efficacy, the safety data and potential outpatient use gives JUNO a clear advantage over peers despite being 12-18 months behind competitors
• The efficacy/safety of JUNO’s drug better positions the drug-developer as a possible takeout target
• Separately, Guggenheim analyst Tony Butler (buy) raised PT to $55 from $38 on the new JCAR017 data, the potential approval in 2018, and expansion into earlier lines of therapy and other indications, he wrote in a note.
  • Says 6-month data will be key to understand efficacy and safety for JCAR017 in a better way
• NOTE: JUNO closed 7.6% higher yesterday afterreporting that patients from a group that the company is testing for the pivotal phase of its trial showed an overall response rate of 80% and a 3- month complete response rate of 73% after being infused with a higher dose of cells; no deaths from cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity were identified

To contact the reporter on this story: Tatiana Darie in New York at tdarie1@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net Cristin Flanagan