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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The major averages rallied on Wednesday, which allowed the Dow (+1.0%), Nasdaq (+0.9%), and S&P 500 (+0.8%) to reclaim yesterday's losses. For its part, the Russell 2000 advanced 0.5% despite a brief dip into the red that took place in the morning.

Even though small caps endured an intraday hiccup, that short-lived weakness had little impact on the S&P 500, which rallied at the open before spending the bulk of the trading day in a six-point range. For the most part, the index was unperturbed by the underperformance of small caps, while also showing little reaction to the FOMC minutes from the April 29-30 meeting.

To be fair, the lack of a reaction to the minutes reflected the lack of new information within the minutes. The document revealed a discussion of the expected path to an eventual rate hike, but there was no mention regarding the potential timing. The minutes also indicated that the committee sees inflation reaching the 2.0% target in the next "few" years with little risk of spillover inflation resulting from fueling payroll growth.

Interestingly, the Treasury market was not too concerned with the Fed mapping out its exit strategy as the 10-yr note registered its low when the minutes were released, before climbing higher into the close. The 10-yr note narrowed its loss to six ticks, while the benchmark yield increased two basis points to 2.53%.

All ten sectors posted gains with cyclical groups faring a bit better than their defensive counterparts. Of the six growth-sensitive sectors, five settled in line or ahead of the S&P 500. The financial sector (+0.8%) provided leadership through the first half of the session, but energy (+1.1%) and consumer discretionary (+1.2%) overtook financials during the afternoon.

The consumer discretionary sector finished in the lead even as quarterly earnings from a handful of retailers disappointed. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO 10.60, -0.73), PetSmart (PETM 57.02, -5.17), and Lowe's (LOW 45.41, -0.11) ended lower in reaction to below-consensus earnings and/or guidance, while Target (TGT 57.20, +0.59) was able to post a solid gain of 1.0% after its report was dubbed 'better than feared.' Also of note, Tiffany (TIF 96.30, +8.07) surged 9.2% following its solid results.

On the countercyclical side, telecom services and utilities ended little changed, while health care (+0.8%) settled in line with the broader market. The consumer staples sector (+0.6%) spiked into the close as shares of Lorillard (LO 62.63, +5.90) surged 10.4% amid reports Reynolds American (RAI 59.77, +2.51) is in discussions to acquire Lorillard.

Today's participation was well below average with the final tally of 574 million shares coming in just ahead of Monday's total that marked the second-lowest volume of the year.

Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which rose 0.9% to follow last week's increase of 3.6%. Despite the headline increase, purchase applications declined 3.0%, while the overall index was driven higher by a 4.0% gain in refinancing applications.

Tomorrow, weekly initial claims (Briefing.com consensus 305K) will be released at 8:30 ET, while the Existing Home Sales report for April (consensus 4.66 million) and the April Leading Indicators report (consensus 0.5%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

S&P 500 +2.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.3% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -1.1% YTD
Russell 2000 -5.0% YTD

DJ30 +158.75 NASDAQ +34.65 SP500 +15.20 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1609/1.58 bln/1030 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1974/574.8 mln/1039

3:35 pm :

Metals remains weak today, while crude oil futures held strength
Crude oil initially displayed a muted reaction following EIA weekly inventory data
However, July crude climbed higher in afternoon trade and rose as high as $104.25/barrel. Crude closed the day $1.68 higher at $103.99/barrel
Natural gas sold in afternoon trade, falling as low as $4.47/MMBtu. June nat gas ended today's session eight cents lower at $4.47/MMBtu.
Gold and silver remained whippy
June gold finished $6 lower at $1288.10/oz, while July silver fell one cent to $19.33/oz
Copper remained in the red all day, closing five cents lower at $3.12/lb.

4:46 pm Ixia receives expected Nasdaq letter regarding late filing of quarterly report (XXIA) : Co announced today that as expected and due to the previously reported delay in the company's filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, on May 15, 2014, the company received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC notifying the company that it does not comply with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). The company continues to work diligently and to devote substantial resources to complete its 2013 Form 10-Q, 2013 Form 10-K and 2014 Form 10-Q, as well as the previously announced restatement of the financial statements contained in the company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2013 and June 30, 2013. The company continues to make substantial progress in these matters and plans to file its Reports and the amendments to its previously filed Quarterly Reports as soon as practicable.

4:09 pm NetApp beats by $0.05, misses on revs; guides Q1 below consensus (NTAP) : Reports Q4 (Apr) earnings of $0.84 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.79; revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $1.65 bln vs the $1.67 bln consensus.

Non-GAAP gross margin +90 bps QoQ and +310 bps YoY to 64.4%.

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.53-0.58, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.62 Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q1 revs of $1.42-1.52 bln vs. $1.52 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"NetApp saw market share gains and delivered a solid operational performance in fiscal year 2014, highlighted by margin expansion and strong cash generation."

1:08 pm First Solar to deliver diesel-PV hybrid solutions to Rio Tinto (RIO) in Australia (FSLR) : Co, Rio Tinto, and Ingenero announced that agreement has been reached for the development of the Weipa Solar Photovoltaic (PV.V) Project in Queensland, Australia. The project has received official confirmation of funding from the Commonwealth Government, with an initial commitment of $3.5 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (:ARENA) to be followed by an allocation of up to $7.8 million for the project's second phase.

Large Cap Gainers

TIF (95.84 +8.63%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.20 ($0.97 vs $0.77 estimate), revs rose 13.0% yoy to $1.01 bln vs $0.95 bln estimate; comparable store sales rose 11% due to growth in most regions; sees Q2 EPS of ~$0.83 vs $0.93 estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $4.15-4.25 (raised from $4.05-4.15) vs $4.17 estimate; target raised to $85 from $83 at Canaccord Genuity
NOK (7.54 +4.00%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies
AZN (74.51 +3.20%): Dealbook reporting that AZN shareholders are divided on Pfizer (PFE) offer; FT reporting that Pfizer is making efforts to keep its bid for AZN active

Large Cap Losers

CRM (49.98 -5.50%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($0.11 vs $0.10 estimate), revs rose 37.7% yoy to $1.23 bln vs $1.21 bln estimate; sees Q2 EPS of $0.11-0.12 ex items vs $0.12 estimate, revs of $1285-1290 mln vs $1.27 bln estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $0.49-0.51 ex items vs $0.49 estimate, revs of $5.30-5.34 bln vs $5.28 bln estimate; target lowered to $70 from $80 at Needham
HRL (47.16 -2.83%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.04 ($0.52 vs $0.56 estimate), revs rose 4.3% yoy to $2.24 bln vs $2.24 bln estimate; reaffirmed FY14 EPS of $2.17-2.27 vs $2.26 estimate
ADI (51.25 -1.40%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.03 ($0.59 vs $0.56 estimate), revs rose 5.4% yoy to $694.5 mln vs $671.0 mln estimate; sees Q3 EPS of $0.60-0.64 vs $0.61 estimate, revs +1-5% (~$702-730 mln) vs $694.71 estimate

Mid Cap Gainers

ALGN (52.08 +4.08%): Discussed at Stifel ahead of earnings: noted that the level of insider selling is among the lowest in six years, a potential positive for the stock
EV (36.75 +3.64%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.03 ($0.59 ex items vs $0.56 estimate), revs rose 6.8% yoy to $354.1 mln vs $352.38 mln estimate
VOYA (35.75 +2.44%): Added to US Focus list at Credit Suisse

Mid Cap Losers

BAH (21.93 -10.14%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.02 ($0.33 ex items vs $0.31 estimate), revs fell 9.4% yoy to $1.4 bln vs $1.4 bln estimate; sees FY15 EPS of $1.50-1.60 ex items vs $1.56 estimate
VSAT (54.06 -7.81%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($0.10 ex items vs $0.11 estimate), revs rose 11.4% yoy to $343.9 mln vs $348.08 mln estimate; target lowered to $50 from $53 at Wunderlich; target lowered to $66 from $72 at Oppenheimer
PETM (57.37 -7.75%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.03 ($1.04 vs $1.01 estimate), revs rose 1.1% yoy to $1.73 bln vs $1.77 bln estimate; sees Q2 EPS of $0.92-0.96 vs $1.00 estimate, comparable store sales flat to slightly down; sees FY15 EPS of $4.29-4.39 vs $4.44 estimate, comparable store sales relatively flat, net sales growth in the low-single digits

11:45 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (64) outpacing new lows (55) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AFSI, AIG, ALDX, ALL, AN, AON, ARX, ATHL, AXDX, BP, BXP, CALM, CBSO, CDNS, CLDT, CNC, CRT, CSX, CTRN, DOM, ENG, EQS, FUR, GBX, HBM, HGT, HNT, IPG, LOAN, LRCX, LUV, LVLT, MMP, MXWL, NFX, NGLS, NSC, PAH, PFIS, PGI, QCOR, QTS, REV, SAIA, SBAC, SE, SKX, SLG, SNDK, SQBG, SSLT, SWC, THRM, TIF, TRGP, TRV, TSLX, UHS, UIHC, WES, WLK, WMB, WSBF, ZLC

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AEPI, AGI, AMRN, AMWD, ANR, BEBE, BOTA, CDE, CHOP, CNCE, CRIS, DCIX, DEST, DKS, DWCH, FDO, FRSH, GNMK, GSH, GYRO, IDSY, IIVI, LITB, LXRX, MEIP, MELI, NGVC, NIHD, NL, NVTL, OMEX, ONTX, OTEL, PETM, RCG, RLJE, RNDY, RST, SSI, STNR, SVM, TECU, TFM, TLOG, TLR, TLYS, TOPS, TRUE, URBN, VHI, VSAT, VVUS, WLT, WTSL, XXIA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: VXX, VXZ

Select solar stocks trading higher following Digitimes report suggesting Solar PV module shipments to grow by 30%, also in sympathy with TSL earnings: YGE +5.3%, SOL +3.9%, JKS +3.3%, JASO +2%, CSIQ +1.9%, FSLR +1%.

Analog Devices (ADI) reported first quarter earnings of $0.59 per share, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 5.4% year/year to $694.5 million which is higher than expected. The company sees third quarter EPS of $0.60-0.64 which is line with estates. The company issued guidance for the revenue guidance of increasing at 1-5% or $702.0-729.8 million which is above estimates.