Morning Chatter!

Morning Chatter! Canada

PRE-OPEN

Canadian markets are slight in the green?as?crude prices?gained.?US futures?edged up as investors assessed the U.S. Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes that indicated a hawkish tone from policymakers.?European shares?slipped as downbeat earnings and BAE Systems weighed. In Asia, Japan's?Nikkei?ended just above a 2-1/2-month low, while?China stocks?rose marginally. The?U.S. dollar?hovered around a two-month-high while?gold?eked out small gains.

KWG Resources Inc. (CSE: CACR) (CSE: CACR.A), which carries on business as?The Canadian Chrome Company?("CCC", "KWG" or the "Company") (The Canadian Chrome Company is a registered business style of?KWG Resources Inc.) announces that Fiona Blondin has tendered her resignation from the Company's Board of Directors due to other responsibilities that she is about to undertake in Ontario's power industry, in addition to her recent appointment to the Board of Directors of VIA HFR. KWG is grateful for Fiona's guidance in its formulation of an indigenously-owned Ring of Fire transportation and transmission enterprise.

Jeffrey Steiner, J.D., has been nominated for appointment to the KWG Board of Directors to complete the unexpired term. Jeffrey is currently the Chair of the Canada-Saudi Business Council and prior to that a founding director and then Chair of the Canada-UAE Business Council. Jeffrey is an Ontario lawyer and businessman involved in technology, film & television and has public company experience in the mining sector. Earlier in his career he served as the Chief of Staff to Canada's Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern Development, and participated in the Yukon comprehensive land claims & self-government settlement; formation of the BC Treaty Commission, Treaty Land Entitlement settlements in Saskatchewan, the creation of the territory of Nunavut and Arctic Environmental Strategies and?mining North of '60. He has earned an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.?

Aether Global Innovations Corp. (CSE:AETH) (OTC:AETHF) (Frankfurt:4XA)?a drone management and automation company, today announced the Company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a?Strategic Partnership with Grupo Senseta Inc. (“Senseta”), a deep tech, AI and big data-driven cybersecurity and intelligent drone services company.?The Strategic Partnership MOU is non-binding until finalized and will focus initially on collaborative product?development focused on critical infrastructure and security applications for monitoring, surveillance and data collection of government facilities, critical infrastructure and pipelines, electrical grids and waterways.?

Aether Global believes this Strategic Partnership with Senseta will bring great value in furthering the Company’s overall three (3) part business strategy for supporting critical infrastructures and large-scale facilities, which includes: (i) drone design and development, (ii) automation and integration and (iii) drone base station infrastructure and technology.?

"We are excited with our discussions with Senseta around this Strategic Partnership for integrating their drone monitoring, surveillance and data capture technologies which fall nicely within our three (3) pronged business strategy,”?shared Phil Lancaster, CEO and President of Aether Global Innovations.?“Senseta has deep expertise in developing solutions that incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies for large facilities and critical infrastructure operations, including power stations, oil refineries and water treatment facilities, as well as these facilities’ diverse networks of pipelines, waterways and energy grids.?Coupled with our other partnerships in drone and UAV management and monitoring services, Senseta and its AI and big data drone solutions will definitely expand both companies’ opportunities in the marketplace.”

“Our team is very pleased about this opportunity to work with Aether Global on this Strategic Partnership,”?shared Dr. Khalid Mohamed al-Ali, co-founder and executive chairman of Senseta.?"This partnership helps us further Senseta's mission to revolutionize the way information is captured and analysed and closes the gap between theories and ideas about reality and actionable knowledge through drone management and monitoring efforts.”

Senseta and Aether Global have begun working on the final details of the Strategic Partnership.?Both companies will update the marketplace, clients, partners and shareholders as market impacting achievements are delivered.

In other news, Aether Global announced that is has begun a digital and marketing awareness campaign which includes press initiatives, advertising and social media with Investing News Network (INN). These marketing and awareness programs include engagements with arm’s length parties for an aggregate gross expenditure of CDN$72,000 over a 12-month period.???

American Eagle Gold Corp. (AE: TSXV | AMEGF: OTCQB)??announce that Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) ("Teck") has agreed to make a strategic investment in the Company through a structured flow-through financing on a private placement basis.?

?The Company will issue 5,940,000 common shares on a flow-through basis (the "Shares") at a price of C$0.45 per Share for issue proceeds of approximately $2.67 million (the "Offering").?The flow-through financing structure provides for Teck to subsequently acquire the Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $1.66 million, or $0.28 per Share.

?The Offering proceeds fully fund an extended 2023 Drill Program and its 2024 Drill Program at its NAK copper-gold porphyry project (the "Nak Project") near Smithers, BC.?No warrants or finders fees were issued in connection with the Offering.

?Immediately following the closing of the Offering, Teck will hold 20,340,000 common shares of American Eagle, or approximately 19.9% of American Eagle's issued and outstanding common shares, on a non-diluted basis.?Teck currently holds 14,400,000 common shares of American Eagle, or approximately 15.0% of American Eagle’s issued and outstanding common shares, on a non-diluted basis.

?Teck’s purchase of the Shares is being made for investment purposes.?Teck may determine to increase or decrease its investment in American Eagle depending on market conditions and any other relevant factors.?This release is required to be issued under the early warning requirements of applicable securities laws.?Teck’s head office is located at Suite 3300 – 550 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 0B3.?A copy of Teck’s early warning report may be obtained from Chris Stannell at 604 699 4368.

CoTec Holdings Corp. (TSXV: CTH; OTCQB: CTHCF)?announce that Ceibo Inc. (“Ceibo”) has secured an investment from BHP Ventures (“BHP”), a world-leading global resources company, in an additional closing of its recently announced Series B financing round.?

Ceibo, through its wholly-owned Chilean subsidiary has developed a revolutionary process to leach low-grade primary copper sulphides, such as chalcopyrite, and copper waste material using a proprietary high throughput inorganic leaching technology.?

CoTec participated in the initial closing of Ceibo’s Series B financing round, which was led by Energy Impact Partners and a syndicate of mining-focused investors, including – in addition to CoTec - Audley Capital, Orion Industrial Ventures, Unearth Capital and Opalton (Pincus Green), in addition to existing investors Khosla Ventures and Aurus Ventures. In total, Ceibo raised over US$30 million in the Series B financing. CoTec understands that Ceibo will use the proceeds from the financing to scale its technology through continued small and large-scale column testing and the building of a demonstration plant.

If successful, CoTec believes that Ceibo’s technology will represent a leading, low-carbon, high recovery primary and waste copper sulphide heap leaching process. This could deliver considerable value through a significant reduction in the time required to bring additional copper into production, a competitive cost structure and a lower environmental and carbon footprint, protected by a high technical?barrier to entry.?

Julian Treger, CoTec CEO commented, “We are very pleased that Ceibo has attracted the investment and support of BHP in this exciting and revolutionary process to leach low-grade primary copper sulphides. This further demonstrates the attractiveness and potential of the technology. Ceibo has been making good progress over recent months and CoTec has started the process to identify opportunities for Ceibo to commercially deploy its technology.”

Earthworks Industries Inc. (TSXV: EWK)?provide this update on the status of the development of its integrated waste handling project at the?Cortina Rancheria in?Colusa County, California. The project is being developed by the Company's wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Cortina Integrated Waste Management Inc. (CIWM).?

With federal approval, CIWM holds a lease of 443 acres of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation's Cortina Rancheria for the development of an integrated waste handling operation, which includes a material recovery system, composting, contaminated soil, and landfill operations.

Over the past several months the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 9, has been completing its review for tentative approval of the remaining Site-Specific Flexibility Requests (SSFRs) pursuant to the EPA's Draft Guidance for municipal waste landfills in Indian Country.

The Draft Guidance suggests a 90 day period for EPA's response to these submissions, but EPA's ongoing review has taken somewhat longer than anticipated.

On?August 11, 2023, the Company received a letter from EPA stating that it is completing the review and is planning to issue a comprehensive response to the SSFRs later this calendar year. Our patience on this matter was acknowledged.

One of the key benefits of this successful regulatory process is that the precedent at Cortina will not only have significant beneficial impact in the region, but it will also potentially open the door to future similar developments by the Company elsewhere in Indian Country.

David Atkinson, President/Chief Executive Officer of Earthworks Industries commented, "We completely understand and appreciate EPA's diligence in completing the current stage of approval at Cortina and we look forward to continued collaboration between EPA, CIWM and the Tribe in getting the SSFRs through the federal approval process.”?

Phenom Resources Corp. (TSXV: PHNM) (OTCQX: PHNMF) (FSE: 1PY0)?provides an update of the Company's field planning and preparation for the summer/fall exploration program in Nevada focused on gold efforts.

Paul Cowley, President & CEO, states, "Last week an access road and drill pad were constructed on the Carlin Gold-Vanadium Project designed for hole RC23-17, a 2000+/- foot hole planned to test the gold system. The site is located where near-surface gold of up to 1.4g/t Au (0.044oz Au/t) in outcrop is considered high-level geochemical 'leakage' above the deeper target zone and flanking the confluence of the north-south graben fault-zone and a northwest trending splay fault. North-south and northwest oriented fault-zones are the most significant fault orientations influencing gold mineralization on the Carlin gold trend. Hole RC23-17 will drill into a funnel-shaped IP anomaly at depth. The Company has narrowed down to two drill contractors to conduct the drilling. Once the contractor has been selected and rig date set, the Company will report to shareholders. Hole RC23-17 follows the impressive findings in hole RC22-16 from last summer, which encountered the best characteristics of the Phenom-controlled Carlin-type-deposit gold system to date; the most intense alteration and gold mineralized dolomite-silica-pyrite-breccia within Popovich limestone starting at a 1680' depth."

In addition, Company geologists met in Elko with Dave Mathewson, Company geological advisor, last week to design next steps of exploration on the Crecent Valley gold project. This included detailed review of previous technical reports, re-examining chips from five historic drill holes and a site visit of the project. The property hosts range-margin large-scale pyrite-bearing epithermal, locally gold anomalous quartz veins exhibiting multi-stage brecciation and multi-stage veining of chalcedony, characteristic?of a low-sulfidation bonanza-type gold vein system. Examples of this style of veining are Sleeper, Midas, Mule Canyon, Fire Creek in the north-central Nevada region. The technical team's consensus was to conduct an Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical survey to provide an aid in directing effective drill targeting along the 4-kilometre length of the vein system. The Company has approached a well-known geophysical contractor to engage and schedule in the IP survey. Once dates are better defined for the IP survey, the Company will report to shareholders.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit?https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/177576

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX: TECK.B)?India's?JSW Steel Ltd?is considering picking up a 75% interest in Teck Resources' steelmaking coal business Elk Valley Resources, according to a Bloomberg report. The potential deal could value the business at $8 billion, said Bloomberg, rivaling an earlier bid by Swiss commodities giant Glencore. Glencore earlier this year offered to buy Teck's steelmaking coal business as a standalone unit, after the Canadian miner twice rebuffed its $22.5 billion offer to combine the two companies.

Xtract One Technologies Inc.?(TSX: XTRA)(OTCQX: XTRAF)(FRA: 0PL), a leading technology-driven threat detection and security solution that prioritizes the patron access experience by leveraging AI, announced today the appointment of two new hires, Joshua Douglas and Christopher Feusner, as the Company’s new Senior Vice President (SVP) of Product & Engineering and Vice President (VP) of Sales, respectively.

Joshua?is a recognized expert in the fields of behavioral analytics, cybersecurity, and physical security. He joins from Mimecast, where he served as Senior Vice President of Product Management, and adds deep product management and engineering leadership expertise to Xtract One’s offerings. Prior to Xtract One, Joshua has also held leadership positions at esteemed companies including Raytheon, Forcepoint, and TRC Companies.

At Xtract One, Joshua will lead the product and engineering groups to accelerate and drive the Company’s roadmap in alignment with customer expectations for the future. This role includes building on Xtract One’s solutions that are currently in market as well as developing a roadmap for the Company’s future product development.

Chris?is a 20-year security industry veteran with skills in understanding, developing, and deploying effective go-to-market strategies across multiple industries, forged from his years spent as a systems integrator and a manufacturer. He joins after roles at Avigilon and Motorola Solutions, and most recently at a stealth startup where he served as Vice President of Global Sales, responsible for repositioning the sales organization, shifting the GTM strategy, developing and building a new channel partner program, rebuilding the company's price list, and assisting in preparing the company's 5-year revenue growth plan.

Chris joins the Xtract One team to lead, scale, and oversee the Company’s sales team. Key responsibilities include driving the Company’s business development, with a focus on expanding the lead funnel and channel partners strategy, as well as exploring new target vertical and international markets.

"We're thrilled to welcome Joshua and Chris to the Xtract One team. Their joining signifies a strategic step towards driving our technological advancements and global implementation of our product,” said Peter Evans, CEO of Xtract One. “Their innovative thinking, extensive experience, and deep technological insights align with our mission. Undoubtedly, they will both play a pivotal role in pushing our vision forward and facilitating the growth of our company.”

For more on Xtract One, please visit?www.xtractone.com.

InvestorTalk?Event - Thursday, August 17, 2023, 9:30AM - 11:00 AM EST, at The National Club

August InvestorTalk Speakers Include:?

Spencer Huh from?Neo Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM | OTCQB: NBMFF)?

Bundeep Singh Rangar from?Fineqia International Inc. (CSE: FNQ)?

Stephen Burega from?Romios Gold Resources Inc. (TSXV: RG | OTCQB: RMIOF)?

Thomas Smeenk from?Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM | OTCQB: HMTXF)

For more information, contact?647 289 7714 or?[email protected].

Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada

PDAC 2024 3rd-6th March

800-170 University Avenue

Toronto, Ontario M5H 3B3

416-3621969

[email protected]

pdac.ca/convention

ECONOMIC DATA (EDT)

0830?Securities Canadians?for June: Prior -2.78 bln

0830?Securities foreign?for June: Prior 11.16 bln

EX-DIV

Cascades Inc: Amount C$0.12

Magna International Inc: Amount $0.46

Stelco Holdings Inc: Amount C$0.42

World Markets

Euro STOXX 50 futures?were down 22 points at 4,275,?FTSE futures?lost 26 points to 7,335, and?German DAX futures?dropped 86 points at 15,746, by 0430 GMT.

Asian shares?slid to nine-month lows, while the?dollar?was at two-month peak as fears over China's sluggish economic recovery and concerns that the Federal Reserve may still raise interest rates rattled investors.

Oil?prices were choppy after falling over the past three sessions, with the undertone grim on worries that slowing growth in China and possible further U.S. interest rate hikes will weaken fuel demand in the world's two biggest economies.

S&P 500 Index Mini Futures: 4,423.00; up 0.07%; 3 points

DJIA Mini Futures: 34,878.00; up 0.16%; 57 points

Nikkei: 31,660.66; down 0.33%; 106.16 points

MSCI Asia, Ex-JP: 502.83; down 0.99%; 5.04 points

EUR/USD: $1.0866; down 0.09%; 0.0010 point

GBP/USD: $1.2721; down 0.07%; 0.0009 point

USD/JPY: 146.39 yen; up 0.02%; 0.03 point

Spot Gold: $1,892.50; up 0.04%; $0.74

U.S. Crude: $79.28; down 0.13%; $0.10

Brent Crude: $83.43; down 0.02%; $0.02

10-Yr U.S. Treasury Yield: 4.2870%; up 0.03 point

10-Yr Bund Yield: 2.6665%; up 0.025 point

US

The Federal Reserve?released minutes?from its latest meeting in July that showed officials are still concerned about the pace of inflation.?Fed members?also noted that more rate hikes could be coming unless conditions change. The Fed?raised rates?by a quarter percentage point at its July meeting, bringing the federal funds rate to the highest level in more than 22 years. The minutes also showed uncertainty among members, however, with some saying they thought the committee could skip a hike and see how previous efforts were affecting the economy.

Alphabet Inc: The tech major's health science unit is planning additional expense cuts after losing more money than expected so far this year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing an internal presentation. Verily Life Sciences posted wider-than-expected operating losses through June, missing its projections by $17 million, the report said. Last year, operating losses totaled $568 million on revenue of $559 million. Part of Google parent Alphabet's Other Bets unit, which was born out of the Google X research program in 2015, Verily already laid off employees and discontinued some products earlier this year, the report added.

Chevron Corp: Woodside Energy and Chevron said there were no updates on wage disputes at some of Australia's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, as the unions involved in talks filed a safety complaint against Woodside. Some 99% of the workers on offshore platforms that supply gas to the North West Shelf LNG plant have agreed to let the union take action including calling strikes, which could disrupt shipments and see prices for the super-chilled fuel rise. Chevron workers are set to vote in the next week on whether to give their union representatives the same powers.

Citigroup Inc?&?Perella Weinberg Partners: The U.S. lender has hired investment banker Stacia Schlosser Ryan from boutique advisory firm Perella Weinberg Partners as its new global co-head of consumer & retail banking, capital markets & advisory (BCMA). Schlosser Ryan will co-head Citi's consumer & retail group alongside veteran banker Clay Hale, according to an internal memo sent by the bank's global head of healthcare, consumer & retail banking, Chuck Adams, on Wednesday. The contents of the memo were confirmed by a Citi spokesperson.

Clorox Co: A California resident on Wednesday sued the company's Brita water filter unit for allegedly misleading consumers by boasting about the effectiveness of its filters, despite their inability to remove some dangerous substances like toxic “forever chemicals” from drinking water. In a proposed class action filed in state court in Los Angeles, Nicholas Brown said Clorox’s Brita Products Co. violated state consumer protection and unfair competition laws by “misleadingly and deceptively marketing” its filters. The lawsuit is seeking monetary compensation, punitive damages, and other relief. A Clorox spokesperson said in a statement that the company is committed to transparency and that Brita's water filters are designed and certified for different purposes, including to address different contaminants.?

Eli Lilly and Co: Nine U.S. states are objecting to a proposed $13.5 million settlement between the drugmaker and a class of insulin buyers over claims that it inflated the drug's price, saying the drugmaker is wrongly trying to use the deal to shield itself from future lawsuits by states. n a filing on Tuesday in Newark, New Jersey, federal court, lawyers for Arizona, Mississippi, and Minnesota urged U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti to delay final approval of the deal until it is changed to make sure that states can still sue over insulin prices. They joined previous, similar objections lodged by Illinois, Nebraska, Utah, Arkansas, Kansas, and Montana.

EQT Corp: The biggest U.S. natural gas producer, said on Wednesday that it had won antitrust approval to close a deal to buy Quantum Energy-backed THQ Appalachia I LLC and associated infrastructure. The proposed deal, valued at $5.2 billion, had been announced in September 2022. EQT said that the parties had satisfied conditions related to antitrust law and could move forward with closing the transaction.

Gold Fields Ltd: The miner said it was on track to start producing gold at its Salares Norte project in Chile in the fourth quarter of this year, after reporting lower half-year profit on higher costs. The start of the Salares Norte project in Chile is key to Gold Fields raising its output to about 2.8 million ounces by 2025 from about 2.3 million ounces currently. Gold Fields is likely to appoint a permanent CEO between September and October, Martin Preece, the interim chief executive, who is also interested in the role, said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc: Investment company Exor was able to build a 15% stake in Dutch healthcare group Philips without triggering the usual disclosures thanks to derivatives deals through Goldman Sachs, regulatory filings show. The two companies said earlier this week that Exor, the investment arm of Italy's Agnelli family, had become the biggest shareholder in Philips by buying 15% of the company for about $2.8 billion.

Paramount Global: The company dropped its plans to sell a majority stake in BET Media Group, which includes the VH1 and BET cable networks and BET+ streaming service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company notified bidders on Wednesday that it decided to end the sale process as a sale would not result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet, the WSJ report said, adding that Paramount had received bids for the stake ranging from around $2 billion to $3 billion.

Sinclair Broadcast Group LLC: Bankrupt Diamond Sports Group has sued its parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group for fraudulently withdrawing as much as $1.5 billion from the regional sports business, according to a lawsuit made public on Wednesday. Diamond Sports, which broadcasts nearly half of NBA, NHL, and MLB local games through its "Bally Sports" branded channels, said that Sinclair began siphoning the company’s assets away almost immediately upon acquiring it in 2019. Sinclair's actions defrauded Diamond and its creditors because Sinclair knew that Diamond was "careering toward bankruptcy" due to declining revenue from cable and satellite television subscriptions, according to the lawsuit.

Synopsys Inc: The chip design software company on Wednesday named 25-year-veteran Sassine Ghazi as its CEO and president, and forecast better-than-expected fourth-quarter results as artificial intelligence (AI) innovations fuel demand for custom semiconductor design. The company said Ghazi, who brings with him decades of chip design and applications engineering experience, will succeed Aart de Geus next January. Geus, co-founder of Synopsys, will move to the role of executive chair. Synopsys forecast fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $3.01 to $3.06, above analysts' average estimate of $2.91, according to Refinitiv data. Revenue expectations of $1.57 billion to $1.60 billion were also better than analysts' average estimate of $1.57 billion. The company reported revenue of $1.49 billion in the third quarter ended July 31, above estimate of $1.48 billion. Adjusted profit per share of $2.88 also beat estimates of $2.74.

?

U.S. Steel Corp: ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, is considering a potential offer for U.S. Steel Corp, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The combination would reverse ArcelorMittal's retreat from the United States as a production base after it sold most of its operations to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in 2020 for $1.4 billion to focus on growing markets such as India and Brazil. ArcelorMittal is discussing a possible offer with its investment bankers, and there is no certainty that it will press ahead with it, the sources said. If it does launch a bid, it could mark the escalation of a bidding war that is already underway for U.S. Steel, following rival offers from Cleveland-Cliffs and Esmark Inc for more than $7 billion.

Walmart Inc: The retailer on Wednesday promoted Kathryn McLay, CEO of its Sam's Club unit, to head its $100 billion international business at a time when high inflation is squeezing spending in many global markets and China's economy is slowing. McLay, a 49-year-old Australian considered a star within the U.S. company's ranks, will take over the division on Sept. 11, succeeding Judith McKenna, who is retiring after 27 years with the company. McLay, who joined Walmart in 2015, will run an international business that spans 19 countries, including China, where slowing economic growth has raised global concerns and sales in the hypermarket sector are falling as purchases shift online.

ECONOMIC DATA (EDT)

0830?Initial jobless claims: Expected 240,000; Prior 248,000

0830?Jobless claims 4-week average: Prior 231,000

0830?Continued jobless claims: Expected 1.700 mln; Prior 1.684 mln

0830?Philly Federal Business Index?for Aug: Expected -10; Prior -13.5

0830?Philly Federal 6M Index?for Aug: Prior 29.10

0830?Philly Federal Capex Index?for Aug: Prior 8.60

0830?Philly Federal Employment?for Aug: Prior -1.00

0830?Philly Federal Prices Paid?for Aug: Prior 9.50

0830?Philly Federal New Orders?for Aug: Prior -15.90

1000?Leading index change mm?for July: Expected -0.4%; Prior -0.7%

Europe, Asia, India

Federal Reserve officials?were divided over the need for more?interest rate hikes?at the U.S. central bank's July 25-26 meeting, with "some participants" citing the risks to the economy of pushing rates too far even as "most" policymakers continued to prioritize the battle against inflation, according to?minutes?of the session that were released on Wednesday.

Japan's?exports?fell in July for the first time in nearly 2-1/2 years, dragged down by faltering demand for light oil and chip-making equipment, underlining concerns about a global recession as key markets like China weakened.

The?United States?on Wednesday condemned?Russia's continued attacks on?Ukraine's?grain infrastructureand said it was working with partners to identify alternative options to ensure Ukrainian grain exports.

ArcelorMittal, the world's second-largest steelmaker, is considering a potential offer for?U.S. Steel, three people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved French drugmaker?Ipsen's drug for a rare bone disorder, making it the first treatment available to patients with the condition that causes abnormal bone growth.

Aegon NV: The Dutch insurer's Solvency II ratio at the end of June missed analyst expectations, with the group also swinging to a 199 million euro net loss, it said. The company attributed the declines to unfavorable market movements in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as investments and assumption updates in the U.S. The solvency ratio fell to 202% from 210% at the end of March and short of the 208% expected by analysts in a poll compiled by the company. The net loss, meanwhile, compared with a net profit of 46 million euros a year earlier.

Ball Corp: Britain's?BAE Systems?agreed to buy Ball Corp's aerospace assets for about $5.55 billion in cash, snapping up a key U.S. contractor in areas such as national security and intelligence. Ball Corp, the world's largest supplier of beer cans, said it would use the proceeds to trim its $9.7 billion debt pile, return money to shareholders and speed up organic growth across its global packaging operations. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

James Hardie Industries Plc: The Australian company said it had appointed Rachel Wilson as its chief financial officer, effective immediately. The world's largest maker of fiber cement said Wilson, a former finance chief at global tech-solutions provider R1 RCM Holdco, would succeed Jason Miele. James Hardie CEO Aaron Erter said, "Rachel has deep experience in corporate finance, capital market..... along with a demonstrated focus on driving profitable growth.”

KKR & Co Inc?&?TPG Inc: The climate investing strategy of the private equity company said it has agreed to buy a majority stake in British refrigerant gases firm A-Gas as tougher regulations push more users to capture and reuse the pollutants. As part of the deal, TPG Rise Climate has formed a strategic partnership with fellow private equity company and current majority owner KKR, which will retain a "significant" minority stake. Details about the financial terms of the deal and the specific stakes to be held by both investors were not disclosed, but sources familiar with the matter said it values A-Gas at just over 1 billion pounds.

MaxLinear Inc?&?Silicon Motion Technology Corp: The Taiwan-based Silicon Motion on Wednesday blamed MaxLinear for breaching their merger agreement and said it would seek damages in excess of the termination fee from the U.S. company. MaxLinear scrapped a nearly $4 billion cash-and-stock deal in July to acquire memory-controller maker Silicon Motion. MaxLinear may be required to pay Silicon Motion a termination fee of $160 million, according to the agreement in May last year.?

Stellantis NV: The automaker said it would invest more than $100 million in California's Controlled Thermal Resources, its latest bet on the direct lithium extraction (DLE) sector amid the global hunt for new sources of the electric vehicle battery metal. The investment by the Chrysler and Jeep parent announced comes as the green energy transition and U.S. Inflation Reduction Act have fueled concerns that supplies of lithium and other materials may fall short of strong demand forecasts. Stellantis, which has said half of its fleet will be electric by 2030, also agreed to nearly triple the amount of lithium it will buy from Controlled Thermal, boosting a previous order to 65,000 metric tons annually for at least 10 years, starting in 2027.

UBS AG: The lender has appointed or confirmed 21 country heads across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. Five of the positions will be filled by employees from recently acquired Credit Suisse, the memo sent to employees by executive board member Beatriz Martin said. The heads of Portugal, Guernsey, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are from the Swiss bank's former rival.

H&M?is investigating 20 alleged instances of labour abuse at Myanmar garment factories that supply the world's second-largest fashion retailer, it told Reuters, just weeks after top rival Zara-owner Inditex said it was phasing out purchases from the Southeast Asian country.?

Investment firm GQG Partners bought an 8.1% stake in India's Adani Power for $1.1 billion via block deals on Wednesday, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

India on Wednesday approved plans for a nearly 580 billion rupee scheme to deploy 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities over a decade, along with charging and associated infrastructure facilities.

Amara Raja Batteries plans to expand into the two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) market, first through chargers and then batteries, as part of an expansion to triple its lithium-ion business this financial year, a top executive said.

The Indian government is considering selling some of its stake in the state-owned Indian Railway Finance Corp (IRFC) as it aims to meet its divestment targets for the year, two government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

ECONOMIC DATA (GMT)

0900?Euro Zone Eurostat Trade NSA?for June: Prior -0.3 bln EUR

0900?Euro Zone Total Trade Balance SA?for June: Prior -0.9 bln EUR

Source (but not limited too) Reuters, CNBC, Financial Post, Financial Times, Globe & Mail, InvestorIntel, Kitco, Refinitiv