Stephen Colbert Waxes Nostalgic About George W. Bush

“Dubya and I had so many good times together back at the old ‘Colbert Report,’” he said. “I made so much fun of him, and he gave me so many reasons to do that.”

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By Trish Bendix

Wild Alaskan Cooked And Smoked Salmon Recalled

Coeurd-Alene, Idaho-based White Cane Smoked Salmon LLC is recalling Wild Alaskan Cooked and Smoked Salmon as it contains undeclared wheat and soy, known allergens, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The affected Alaskan Cooked and Smoked Salmon is packaged in vacuum bag, sold frozen, and there is no lot code or best by date on a package. The product has been sold at farmer’s markets Green Valley, Udall Park, Oro Valley, and Rillito Park in Arizona. The affected product was last sold on 5/15/2022.

The recall was initiated after it was discovered that product containing wheat and soy in Teriyaki Sauce, but it was distributed in packaging that did not reveal the presence of wheat and soy.

According to the agency, people who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat or soy may get serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the recalled product.

However, the company has not received any reports of illnesses related to the product to date.

Customers with wheat or soy allergy or sensitivity and have purchased the affected product are urged to dispose of them or return it to their place of purchase for a full refund.

Close Brothers Says Demand Robust In Its Core Markets In Q3

Close Brothers Group Plc (CBG.L), a British merchant banking group, said in a trading update on Friday that there has been a good momentum across its lending businesses with a robust demand in its core markets for the third quarter.

For three-month period to April, the lender’s loan book moved up by 1.8 percent to 8.8 billion pounds, a 3.7 percent year-to-date growth. This reflected continued new business volumes in commercial and motor finance, and in property, loan book growth resumed, reflecting increased drawdowns from its strong pipeline.

The London-headquartered firm’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was at 14.9 percent. In addition, the annualized year-to-date net interest margin was strong at 7.8 percent.

Pre-market Movers: EBET, AFRM, CELU, FIGS, LLAP…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Friday’s pre-market trading (as of 07.30 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Esports Technologies, Inc. (EBET) is up over 33% at $3.68
Affirm Holdings, Inc. (AFRM) is up over 29% at $23.38
Celularity Inc. (CELU) is up over 27% at $7.35
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) is up over 21% at $10.40
Ring Energy, Inc. (REI) is up over 20% at $4.65
Molecular Partners AG (MOLN) is up over 19% at $7.29
Borr Drilling Limited (BORR) is up over 11% at $4.71
Hercules Capital, Inc. (HTGC) is up over 10% at $16.65
Redwire Corporation (RDW) is up over 10% at $4.10
AMTD IDEA Group (AMTD) is up over 10% at $2.06
Tata Motors Limited (TTM) is up over 8% at $26.10
Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (DBD) is up over 6% at $3.27

In the Red

FIGS, Inc. (FIGS) is down over 24% at $9.74
Terran Orbital Corporation (LLAP) is down over 17% at $3.56
Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) is down over 14% at $38.68
Cortexyme, Inc. (CRTX) is down over 9% at $3.03
Dakota Gold Corp. (DC) is down over 9% at $2.90
New Relic, Inc. (NEWR) is down over 8% at $43.98
SoundHound AI, Inc. (SOUN) is down over 7% at $6.10
Nutex Health, Inc. (NUTX) is down over 7% at $4.65
National Vision Holdings, Inc. (EYE) is down over 6% at $23.88

Italy’s Menarini, Radius Health Report Positive Data From Elacestrant Phase 3 EMERALD Clinical Trial

Italian pharmaceutical company Menarini Group and Radius Health, Inc. (RDUS) announced Friday positive data from the pivotal phase 3 EMERALD clinical trial (NCT03778931) evaluating elacestrant as a monotherapy vs. standard of care for the treatment of ER+/HER2- advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

The companies noted that Emerald study met both its primary end points of Progression-free survival or PFS in overall population and in ESR1 mutated patients.

Elacestrant is the first oral selective estrogen receptor degrader or SERD demonstrating a significant improvement in PFS vs. SOC with manageable safety in a phase 3 trial for patients with ER-positive/HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.

The data were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In the trial, the most common treatment emergent adverse events or AEs in patients receiving elacestrant were mild or moderate gastrointestinal events.

Menarini plans to pursue combination studies and study the potential of elacestrant to be effective in addressing the highest unmet needs for ER+/HER2-patients.

Gold Inches Higher On Dollar Weakness

Gold prices rose slightly on Friday, as the dollar eased and was on track for a 1.5 percent weekly fall amid improved risk sentiment in global markets.

Global bond yields were also mostly lower amid growing fears of a recession.

Spot gold edged up 0.3 percent to $1,847.13 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 percent at $1,845.26.

Equity markets were seeing a tentative rebound after China’s central bank announced a reduction in a key interest rate for long-term loans to mitigate a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

The People’s Bank of China has lowered the five-year loan prime rate by 15 basis points to 4.45 percent from 4.60 percent, while leaving the one-year LPR unchanged at 3.75 percent.

In another development, the U.S. Senate approved $40 billion aid package to Ukraine to resist attacks by Russia.