Sector Investing

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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market ended the Tuesday session on a broadly lower note. The S&P 500 lost 1.0% with all ten sectors ending in the red. The Russell 2000 outperformed, but still shed 0.3%.
Equity indices were on the defensive from the get-go with the early weakness attributed to disappointing data from overseas. China got the ball rolling overnight with a disappointing HSBC Services PMI report (50.0 from 53.1), which fell to its lowest level on record. Things looked a little bit better in Europe, where Services PMI readings from Germany, Great Britain, and Spain improved, but the overall eurozone reading unexpectedly slipped to 54.2 from 54.4.

Another item that kept dip-buyers on the sidelines was disappointing guidance provided by Target (TGT 58.03, -2.67). The retailer lost 4.4% after priming the market for below-consensus results that will include a $148 million expense stemming from the data breach that occurred last year.

Staying on the earning theme, apparel retailer Coach (COH 35.80, +1.49) rallied 4.3% after reporting better than expected earnings and revenue. For its part, the overall consumer discretionary sector (-0.7%) ended a bit ahead of the broader market.

Outside of the discretionary space, the industrial sector (-0.6%) was the only other cyclical group that was able to finish ahead of the broader market. Dow component Boeing (BA 121.27, +1.34) added 1.1%, which contributed to the relative strength. Transport stocks were not as fortunate with the Dow Jones Transportation Average falling 1.1%.

Other heavily-weighted sectors were not as fortunate with financials (-1.0%) and technology (-0.9%) ending in line with the S&P 500, while energy (-2.1%) lagged throughout the session. Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD 209.98, -12.43) pressured the sector, falling 5.6%, in reaction to below-consensus revenue. Marathon Oil (MRO 38.46, -0.76) also slumped, losing 1.9%, despite its better than expected earnings. Crude oil, meanwhile, fell 1.0% to $97.33/bbl.

Afternoon action saw equities extend their losses with the slide attributed to comments from Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who said Russia is poised to pressure or invade Ukraine. However, it is worth noting that the comments did not introduce anything new as Russian troop movements along the border with Ukraine have been watched for months. In all likelihood, the headline was a convenient excuse to take some money off the table after the market could not erase its early loss.

Also of note, the afternoon remarks helped Treasuries recover their intraday losses. The 10-yr note ended flat with its yield at 2.48% after the benchmark yield notched a session high just north of 2.52%.

Participation was a bit below average with fewer than 690 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Economic data was limited to Factory Orders and the ISM Services Index:


Factory orders increased 1.1% in June following a downwardly revised 0.6% decline (from -0.5%) in May
The Briefing.com consensus expected factory orders to increase 0.5%
Durable goods orders increased 1.7% in June after declining 0.9% in May, representing a significant upward revision from the advance release (+0.7%)
Excluding transportation, durable goods orders rose 1.9% in June, up from an originally reported 0.8% increase in the advance release
The ISM Non-manufacturing Index increased to 58.7 in July from 56.0, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 56.5
That was the highest reading since the ISM reformulated the index in January 2008
Including the old survey methods, the index reached its highest level since late 2005

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET, while the June Trade Balance (Briefing.com consensus -$45.20 billion) will be released at 8:30 ET.

S&P 500 +3.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +4.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.9% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.5% YTD

DJ30 -139.81 NASDAQ -31.05 SP500 -18.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1128/1.75 bln/1676 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 859/688.3 mln/2199

3:30 pm :

Precious metals extended yesterday's losses as a stronger dollar index weighed on prices.
Dec gold slipped into negative territory after pulling back from a session high of $1291.20 per ounce in early morning action. It brushed a session low of $1283.30 per ounce and settled with a 0.3% loss at $1285.10 per ounce
Sep silver fell as low as $19.78 per ounce after retreating form a session high of $20.19 per ounce. Unable to find buying support, it settled at $19.83 per ounce, or 1.6% lower.
Sep crude oil trended lower into negative territory ahead of tomorrow's inventory data. A stronger dollar index also pressured prices.
The energy component pulled back from its session high of $98.15 per barrel and brushed a session low of $97.00 per barrel. It eventually settled with a 1.0% loss at $97.33 per barrel.
Sep natural gas, on the other hand, rose from its session low of $3.84 per MMBtu set in early morning action and traded in a consolidative pattern near the $3.90 per MMBtu level for the remainder of the session. It touched a session high of $3.91 per MMBtu and settled at $3.90 per MMBtu, booking a gain of 1.6%.

4:48 pm Ixia reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (:XXIA) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues fell 5.8% year/year to $114 mln vs the $111.11 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.01-0.05, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.10 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $109-113 mln vs. $117.28 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

As previously announced, in July 2014, a Nasdaq hearings panel determined to continue the listing of the company's common stock provided that by Sept 12, 2014 the co becomes current in its periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and demonstrates compliance with all other requirements for continued listing. The co is working diligently to file its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the first and second quarters of 2014 by the end of the extension period.

On August 1, 2014, the company committed to and implemented a company-wide restructuring initiative to better align the company's operating costs with its business opportunities. The restructuring plan includes the elimination of approximately 5% to 6% of the company's employee base as of June 30, 2014. The company expects that the reduction in staffing will be substantially completed by September 30, 2014. The company's restructuring initiative will also include the elimination of currently open replacement positions as well as previously planned new headcount additions, the rationalization of certain facility costs and the reduction of other discretionary costs.

4:15 pm First Solar misses by $0.29, misses on revs; reaffirms FY14 EPS guidance, revs guidance (:FSLR) : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.29 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.33; revenues rose 4.7% year/year to $544.4 mln vs the $812.19 mln consensus.
Q1 Metrics- Actuals


Q1 Gross Profit 17.0% , -7.0 bps q/q Q1 Production447 MW, +1% q/q; Q1 Cap Utilization 80%, -2 bps q/q; Q1 Conversion Efficiency 14.0%, +50 bps q/q 2014 Guidance
Reaffirms EPS guidance of $2.40-2.80 Raises GM guidance to 18-19%, Prior 17-18%Operating Expenses lowered to $365-385 mln from $380-395 mlnReaffirms Operating Income $290-340 million Reaffirms Operating cash flow $300-500 mln Module shipment 2.8 GW Reaffirms Revs guidance $3.7-4.0 bln Reaffims Production 1.9-2.0 GW
CapEx reaffirmed at $300-350 mln

4:14 pm Super Micro Computer beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides SepQ EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (:SMCI) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.40 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.39; revenues rose 32.8% year/year and 14.5% sequentially to $428.1 mln vs the $396.0 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1 (Sep), sees EPS of $0.36-0.42, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.35 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $395-435 mln vs. $377.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Revenue growth was driven by higher sales into virtualization and cloud applications to internet data centers totaling 17.8% of fourth quarter revenue or 150% higher than last year which helped us to achieve record revenue for system sales of 55.2% of revenue.""We are looking forward to the new fiscal year and we have been preparing to be a strong market leader in the upcoming technology refresh cycle related to the Intel Grantley (Haswell new processor) launch. We have created new X10 based product lines optimized for Grantley which includes our new Ultra server architecture, our new Data Center Optimized line, and our TwinPro line to just name a few of the many products that will lead the industry in innovation and time to market."

12:36 pm Notable movers of interest (:SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

DG (57.75 +3.29%): A Bloomberg story indicated that DG may explore Family Dollar (:FDO) bid.
ADM (48.75 +3.84%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, missed on revs.
REGN (331.5 +1.86%): Beat on EPS by $0.18, beat on revs; reaffirmed FY14 US EYLEA net product sales guidance.

Large Cap Losers

VIV (19.07 -6.38%): Telefonica S.A. (:TEF) and Telefonica Brasil submitted an offer to VIV for the combination of Telefonica Brasil and Global Village Telecom, which includes cash consideration of 11,962 mln Brazilian Reais and newly issued shares representing 12% of the share capital of the new Telefonica Brasil.
PXD (210.5 -5.35%): Reported Q2 (Jun) results, missed on revs; announced sale of Hugoton and Barnett Shale assets for $495 mln.
WLK (86.75 -2.82%): Missed on EPS by $0.22, missed on revs.

Mid Cap Gainers

USM (38.47 +14.46%): Upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.
TDS (25.97 +10.65%): Upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James; tgt raised to $39 from $37.
NRF (17.23 +6.75%): Co to acquire Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II in $4 bln transaction.

Mid Cap Losers

BLMN (15.51 -21.73%): Missed on EPS by $0.02, reported revs in-line; guided FY14 EPS below consensus.
CRR (105.89 -13.17%): Weakness attributed to comments by ROSE that it was changing the completion design in the Eagle Ford wells to sand from ceramic proponents.
DWRE (53.66 -13.3%): Beat on EPS by $0.10, beat on revs; Tom Ebling, co's CEO, elected Chairman of the Board; Stephan Schambach named Chairman of the Board Emeritus.

11:56 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (88) outpacing new highs (42) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ADM, AKRX, AMED, CENX, CHKE, CLW, CORE, CTP, DDS, DLR, EW, EXPE, FCH, GCI, GTIV, HCA, HNRG, HSH, HSKA, IDIX, KALU, MAG, NBTF, NDZ, NMM, NVEC, PCRX, PEIX, PLNR, PTRY, REX, SCI, SCOR, SFBC, SIMO, SKM, SPBC, SPR, THC, TSRA, VDSI, X

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACUR, ACXM, AEIS, AIXG, AKAO, ALCS, ALLT, ALLY, ANAD, ARCC, ASPN, ASTI, BEL, BLMN, BODY, BPHX, CERU, CGG, COCO, COOL, CPHC, CUB, CZR, DB, DGII, DSKX, ECOM, EGLE, ENZY, FE, GTXI, HGG, HGSH, HLF, HUSA, IKAN, IMN, ISNS, KIOR, LDR, LF, LPX, MFG, MMLP, NEWL, NILE, NKSH, NRX, NUS, NVDQ, NVGN, OCN, OIBR, OIBR.C, OMEX, PCL, PED, PLX, PRKR, PSTI, PT, PVH, QLGC, RDEN, RGDX, RIG, RP, SALE, SC, SKYW, SLRC, SPDC, TBBK, TESS, TEU, TGE, TNAV, UBS, UPI, VCRA, VGGL, VII, VSI, VSR, WAIR, WMS, XCO, XXIA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: EWO, SGG

Semtech (SMTC) announced that Microchip Technology (MCHP) has adopted Semtech's long-range LoRa RF technology.

GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT 15.75, +1.62): +11.5% after its better than expected guidance overshadowed its disappointing results

Motorola Solutions (MSI 61.00, -3.11): -4.9% after reporting Q2 earnings of $0.47, which may not compare to the Capital IQ consensus estimate Canadian Solar (CSIQ) announced that it supplied 4 MW of Canadian Solar PV Modules for the Spanish Town Estate Solar project, recently acquired by NRG Energy (NRG).