Vulcan Materials (VMC) reported a 20% fall in net profits to $48 million or 38 cents per share in the third quarter, from $60 million or 53 cents per share in the year-ago period. The decline was on the back of a 19%-29% fall in sales volumes for the company’s key product lines. However, the company did manage to meet the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenue declined 23% to $778 million. Gross profit as a percent of net sales -- excluding depreciation, depletion and amortization -- increased to 34% from 31% in the prior-year quarter. This was attributed to Vulcan’s efficient cost management and productivity improvements. Segment Performance Revenue in the Aggregates segment shrank 19% to $533 million due to lower shipments, which more than offset the earnings benefit from improved prices, lower unit costs for diesel fuel and cost control measures. Shipments declined 20% due ...

SurModics, Inc. announced yesterday that it has signed an exclusive agreement with the Roche Group and Genentech for the licensing of its proprietary drug delivery system. This agreement will also establish a development process whereby a new, sustained-delivery formulation for the highly successful Lucentis® (ranibizumab) injection will be commercialized and brought to market using SurModics’ technology, logistics and expertise.

This incredibly lucrative agreement includes an initial, up-front licensing fee of $3.5 million, and an estimated $200 million in payments if development of the Lucentis formulation and other products is successful. In addition, the agreement indicates that SurModics will be used to develop and manufacture the drug. With the potential to develop other drugs in the future via this agreement, SurModics will also obtain certain undisclosed royalties on sales of developed products.

Lucentis is the only FDA-approved treatment for neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), a degenerative condition of the central retina,

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ProAssurance Corporation (PRA) said Thursday that its Board has authorized an additional $100 million to repurchase its stock or retire outstanding debt. The current repurchase program is the addition to the company’s $31.3 million remaining repurchase authorizations. Since April 2007 ProAssurance has purchased 3.6 million shares at a cost of $177.8 million and used $40.9 million to retire debt. The total retirement of debt includes $7 million in surplus notes retired recently with respect to its acquisition of the PICA Group. Prudent capital management is a key strength for ProAssurance. The company deploys capital in an effective manner mainly through its stock buyback program. As the company is currently comfortable with its capital position, we anticipate the repurchase activities to continue in the coming quarters. As of December 31, 2008, all of the ProAssurance subsidiaries exceeded the minimum risk-based ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 2, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), Sinopec (SNP), Total SA (TOT), CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and Vodafone (VOD).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

PetroChina Sings 'O Canada'

Yesterday, PetroChina Company Ltd. (PTR), the largest integrated oil company in China, agreed to pay C$1.9 billion ($1.7 billion) to acquire a majority stake in two oil sands projects in western Canada.

As per the terms of the agreement with Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.

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[Editor's Note: After more than a year of chaos and controversy, some of the leading U.S. banks saw their stock prices soar during the second quarter. As part of its mid-year forecast series, Money Morning examines the outlook for U.S. banks for the rest of this year. To see earlier stories from our mid-year forecast series, please click here.] By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Money Morning

Can U.S. bank stocks continue their winning streak?

In February, I analyzed the top 12 U.S. banks to determine whether they really needed $1.5 trillion in taxpayer-provided bailout capital. I concluded that only a few of those banks seemed to be in any danger of collapse, and actually recommended several.

Policymakers and the market later came to agree with me: The Standard & Poor’s 500 Financial Index has more than doubled from its March low and several bank stocks have posted triple-digit …

According to a report released by Reis Inc., a leading real estate research firm, the US office market vacancy rate has surged to 15.9% in the second quarter of 2009 – the highest in four years. With deteriorating demand for office space, rent decreased by 2.7% during the quarter – the largest plunge in seven years.

Most real estate companies were forced to lower rents to attract and keep tenants. In addition, tenants are demanding more concessions in the form of free rent and capital improvements.

During the quarter, asking rent in the office segment decreased 1.4% to $28.43 per square foot. Taking into account the rent-free months and improvement costs to landlords, effective rents or net cash received as rent decreased 2.7% in the quarter to $23.42 per square foot. Consequently, with decreasing cash flows the risk of loan defaults has increased considerably in the office segment.

According

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With the Rally Nearly Over the Germans are Buying Gold.

The Dow fell another 107 points yesterday. Oil held steady at $70. The dollar fell to $1.38. And gold rose $4 to 932.

What if the rally is over? Could be… It began on 9 March. That makes it more than 3 months old. Most likely, it will continue through the summer. But who knows?

The important thing to remember is this: there can be no major, sustained bull market without one of two things happening.

Either… the mistakes of the Bubble Epoque must be cleared away… allowing for a new era of genuine growth and real prosperity. At best, this would take a few years to achieve. Just imagine how long it will take to restructure GM into a profit-making business again. Just imagine how long it will take consumers to pay down their debts so they can begin to spend again. Just

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NEW HAVEN, CT — (Marketwire) — 05/14/09 — American Green Group, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: AMNE) today announced that Eco Built Systems, Inc. d/b/a Paradigm Polymers has established a new Commissioned Agents Program “Cap,” a series of large manufacturers’ Sales reps designed to support the sales and marketing effort of Paradigm Polymers various product lines.

Since the acquisition of the EcoSafe line and the subsequent demonstration of the materials in Birmingham, AL, Paradigm has signed Cap agents in, Birmingham, AL, Atlanta, GA, Raleigh, NC, and Souix City, IA, as well as Nederland, CO, and Grand Rivers, KY. Dealer Applicators have been established in Englewood, FL, Atlanta, GA, Danbury, NH, and Dakota City, NE. The Raleigh, NC, group has a very strong internet presence and heads up an association of insulation professionals with members in more than 35 states and Canada.

On the International front, excellent opportunities have presented themselves in Europe. We

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Even though it just posted its third-highest annual profit ever, investors hammered shares of U.S. industrial giant General Electric Co. (GE) last week on a triple play of bad news: Its first dividend cut in 71 years. Speculation over a possible credit-ratings downgrade. And growing worries that the once-unthinkable was becoming possible - a corporate bankruptcy that would put GE on the growing list of onetime Corporate America heavyweights that are now taking government bailout money. GE’s biggest worries revolve around the company’s gigantic financial-services unit, GE Capital Corp., and whether it has adequate capital to counter an expected rise in delinquencies on its loans. Investors are also concerned about GE Capital’s accounting methods and how the company is valuing its vast real estate portfolio. "Probably the biggest controversy surrounding GE right now is what the fair value of (GE Capital’s) ...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner last week proposed a series of programs, totaling $1.5 trillion, to bail out the U.S. banking system. Of course, Geithner hasn’t told us precisely how he plans to spend the money, or identified which banks require such an enormous outlay. So I thought it was worth looking at the United States’ 12 largest banks to see where the problems might be and identify which banks might need big infusions of government cash. I perused the financial statements of all 12 banks, and also looked at their market valuations. Unlike when the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) was proposed in September - when the projections for potential losses were largely financial conjecture - we now have important concrete data on the banking system’s troubles; namely, each of the bank’s annual financial reports for ...