Sector Investing

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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market began the new trading week on an upbeat note with small caps leading the charge. The Russell 2000 gained 1.5%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.9% with eight sectors posting gains.

Equity indices surged out of the gate and spent the entire afternoon in narrow ranges near their highs. Although the Russell 2000 paced the rally, the small-cap index could not climb above its 50-day moving average (1159), which served as resistance.

The opening push took place after the reports that weighed on risk sentiment on Friday were refuted over the course of the weekend. To recap, comments made by Ukrainian officials on Friday suggested that a direct confrontation took place between Russian forces and Ukrainian troops, but those accounts were called into question by several parties, including the White House.

In addition to boosting equities, the news weighed on safe-haven assets. The 10-yr note spent the day in a steady retreat, which pushed its yield up five basis points to 2.39%. Similarly, Germany's 10-yr note retreated, which sent its yield back above the 1.0% mark to 1.01%.

Cyclical sectors displayed broad strength as five of six growth-oriented groups finished ahead of the broader market. The industrial sector (+1.5%) seized the lead in the early going and held on until the close with help from transport stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average jumped 1.7% to extend its August gain to 3.2%. Airlines led with United Continental (UAL 47.84, +1.83) climbing 4.0%.

Elsewhere, the top-weighted sector-technology (+1.1%)-also finished ahead of the S&P 500 even as chipmakers were unable to keep pace after Goldman Sachs downgraded the entire semiconductor space. The PHLX Semiconductor Index was limited to a modest gain of 0.5%. However, large cap components picked up the slack with the likes of Apple (AAPL 99.16, +1.18) and Google (GOOGL 592.70, +8.99) ending higher by 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Also of note, the consumer discretionary sector (+0.9%) benefitted from M&A activity as Dollar General (DG 64.14, +6.68) offered to acquire Family Dollar (FDO 79.81, +3.75) for $78.50/share, which represents a 3.2% premium to Friday's closing price.

Despite the broad strength, one cyclical group spun its wheels throughout the session. Specifically, the energy sector (+0.3%) ended near its flat line, while crude oil fell 0.9% to $97.31/bbl.

On the countercyclical side, telecom services (-0.1%) and utilities (-0.2%) registered slim losses, while consumer staples (+0.6%) and health care (+0.8%) finished a bit behind the broader market.

Participation was below average with fewer than 600 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Economic data was limited to the NAHB Housing Market Index for August, which rose to 55 from 53, while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to hold at 53.

Tomorrow, July CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%), July Housing Starts (consensus 964K), and Building Permits (consensus 1.001 million) will all be reported at 8:30 ET.


Nasdaq Composite +7.9% YTD
S&P 500 +6.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -0.5% YTD

DJ30 +175.83 NASDAQ +43.39 SP500 +16.68 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2104/1.46 bln/690 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2433/591.7 mln/649 3:35 pm :

Crude oil traded in the red all day and fell below the $96 level, falling as low as $95.98/barrel.
Sept crude oil finished the day $0.88 lower at $97.31/barrel
Gold slid back below $1300/oz today, while silver climbed higher in afternoon trade
Dec gold ended $7.40 lower at $1299.20/oz, Sept silver closed $0.12 higher to $19.64/oz
Sept natural gas rose 2 cents to $3.79/MMBtu
Corn lost steam and fell as much as 10 cents off its HoD to end at $3.60/bushel, down 6 cents.

5:02 pm Plexus announces $30 mln share repurchase program (PLXS) : Co announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new share repurchase program under which the Company is authorized to repurchase up to $30 million of its common stock during fiscal 2015.

4:07 pm Kulicke & Soffa Appoints Garrett E. Pierce as Chairman of the Board of Directors (KLIC) :

Co announced the appointment of Garrett Pierce as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Pierce will replace MacDonell Roehm who is stepping down as Chairman having reached the Company's customary retirement age. Pierce will become Chairman effective September 28, 2014. Pierce has served on the K&S Board of Directors since 2005 and is the Chairman of the Audit Committee. He is the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Orbital Sciences Corporation (ORB).4:02 pm Riverbed Technology announced that Paul Mountford has joined the company as SVP and Chief Sales Officer (RVBD) :


12:22 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 (63.15 +9.90%): Co made proposal to acquire Family Dollar Stores (FDO) for $78.50 per share in cash; upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Sterne Agee; upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse; mentioned positively at FBR Capital
CHU (17.2 +4.31%): Strength in Chinese wireless companies: CHL also higherAAL (40.73 +3.93%): Strengh in major airlines following declines in fuel prices: UAL, DAL also higher

Large Cap Losers

MNST (89.8 -3.95%): Downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, target raised to $95 from $80; pullback following strong gains seen after announcing a long-term strategic partnership with Coca-Cola (KO)
DLTR (54.38 -2.21%): Competitor Dollar General (DG) made superior offer ($78.50 vs $74.50) to acquire Family Dollar (FDO)
NXPI (62.49 -2.19%): Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman

Mid Cap Gainers

ST (48.85 +5.79%): Co's subsidiary reached an agreement to acquire the Schrader group of companies for a total enterprise value of $1 bln; expected to be accretive in 2015
GTAT (18.29 +5.36%): Seeing reports that Apple has begun mass production of iPhone 6 sapphire screens
FDO (79.83 +4.96%): Received acquisition offer from Dollar General (DG) at $78.50 per share, above previous offer of $74.50 per share from Dollar Tree (DLTR)

Mid Cap Losers
YOKU (20.92 -4.08%): Downgraded to Hold from Buy at T.H. Capital
OCN (26.13 -3.08%): In a 10-Q filing co disclosed that internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of June 30, 2014
CSTM (29.49 -2.48%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, target lowered to $32 from $33

11:47 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (158) outpacing new lows (36) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ACHN, AKS, ALGT, ALL, ALX, AMGN, APH, ARII, AVB, AWK, BAM, BBD, BIG, BIOF, BITA, BLT, BLX, BOXC, BRX, BURL, CAR, CCI, CELG, CHH, CHL, CLDT, CMCM, CNK, CNW, COO, CORE, CQB, CRAI, CRI, CTAS, CTO, CTP, CUZ, CYH, DIS, DLR, DVCR, ECHO, ECL, EEFT, EEQ, EFX, ELS, EMC, ENPH, EW, EXPE, FDO, FISV, FLT, FRP, GILD, GPRK, HCA, HD, HDB, HHC, HTZ, HZO, IBA, IBN, IESC, IHS, IRDM, IVZ, JBLU, JBSS, JLL, JMEI, KALU, KRNY, LABL, LEG, LGP, LHCG, LMT, LPL, LRAD, LUV, LYB, MAR, MATW, MGPI, MITSY, MMI, MTD, MUSA, NEU, NEWM, NLS, NP, NTES, NWL, ODFL, PBA, PBIP, PBYI, PCRX, PEOP, PII, PKX, PLNR, PTRY, Q, RCL, REGN, REIS, REV, REX, RFMD, RSG, RUSHB, SAIA, SAVE, SCI, SCLN, SEMG, SERV, SIMO, SKX, SLI, SNSS, SPB, SPCB, SRC, ST, STLD, STND, SXL, SYNL, TARO, TCP, THC, TQNT, TSLA, TSO, TSRA, TTM, TV, UHS, UNP, URS, VAC, VGR, VOYA, WEX, WLDN, WLK, WPC, WRB, X, XRS, ZTS

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACY, AMCC, AQU, AQXP, ARCO, BAA, BDE, BEBE, CBNK, CLRX, COOL, CREE, EGI, EGLT, EGT, ENVI, EXXI, FN, GSIT, HGR, KIOR, LPDX, LPTN, MITK, NGVC, PFSI, QRM, REE, SDR, SDT, SYNC, TGE, VII, WPP, XIN, ZA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: AMJ, BKF, ICF, IYH, IYR, NIB, PALL, PSK, QQQ, URE, VNQ, XLV

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BNO, SGG

9:42 am BlackBerry announced before the open that it has named Sandeep Chennakeshu to lead a new business unit to be called BlackBerry Technology Solutions (BBRY) : The BTS business unit comprises BlackBerry's innovative technology assets, including: QNX (embedded software), Project Ion (Internet of Things application platform), Certicom (cryptography applications), and Paratek (RF antenna tuning), as well as BlackBerry's extensive patent portfolio.

JA Solar Holdings (JASO) announced that its highly efficient polycrystalline RIECIUM module passed the 500-hour Potential Induced Degradation Test conducted by TUV SUD, a world leader in testing and certification services.

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) announced that a tier-one automotive supplier is leveraging several of its solutions in their vehicle-based wireless platforms ramping across several leading car manufacturers.

7:08 am JinkoSolar Holding beats Q2 EPS on in-line rev; guides Q3 shipments; raises FY14 shipment guidance (JKS) : Q2 non-GAAP EPS $0.92 vs. $0.76 consensus; rev +38% to $392 mln vs. $390.5 mln consensus.

Total solar product shipments amounted to 659.5 megawatts vs. 570-600 MW guidance, consisting of 570.8 MW of solar modules, 54.1 MW of silicon wafers and 34.6 MW of solar cells. This represents an increase of 13.5% from 581.2 MW in the first quarter of 2014 and an increase of 34.8% from 489.2 MW in the second quarter of 2013. Gross margin was 22.6%, compared with 24.0% in the first quarter of 2014 and 17.7% in the second quarter of 2013. For Q3, the co estimates total solar module shipments to be in the range of 800 MW to 850 MW, which includes 650MW to 680MW module shipments to third parties and 150 MW to 170 MW for its own downstream projects.

For FY14, the co estimates total solar module shipments to be in the range of 2.9 GW and 3.2 GW, which includes 2.3GW to 2.5GW module shipments to third parties, and 600 MW to 650 MW for its own downstream projects. Full year project development scale is expected to be above 600 MW.

7:04 am Trina Solar announces supply of 82 MW of anti-PID modules to Sihong Tianganghu PV Power Generation (TSL) : Co announced it signed an agreement to supply 82MW of its anti-Potential Induced Degradation modules to Sihong Tianganghu Photovoltaic Power Generation Co., Ltd. for a solar power plant located in Jiangsu Province.


Module shipments are expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

The technology sector is trading higher today, +0.9%, outperforming the S&P 500 which stands at +0.8%. Amidst a slowing earnings calendar, there were a few names that stood out among the day's news.

Small cap, Vringo, Inc. (VRNG) is trading modestly higher ( +27.0%) on disclosures of notable insider purchases. The company's CFO disclosed a purchase of 9,000 shares at $0.91 worth $8,190, and a company Director disclosed a purchase of 30,000 shares at $0.89 worth $26,700. Between the two disclosures, the stock bounced back from its Friday low of $0.67 to an intraday high of $1.12, a swing of 67.2%.

Also, phones & handheld device manufacturer, BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY, +1.9%) swung to a more than two week high of $9.83 intraday on news of a new business unit named BlackBerry Technology Solutions. The unit will focus primarily on BlackBerry's extensive patent portfolio, in addition to handling some of the software and application technology.

Of note in the dwindling earnings calendar is Fabrinet (FN), which postponed its earnings that were supposed to be reported after the bell. The company is under investigation by an Audit Committee to see if there were any violations of the company's accounting policies, but no conclusion has been reached in the ongoing investigation. The stock gapped down today (-18.2%), and saw a brief intraday low of $13.57 before bouncing back to 14.50 level.

Finally, large cap components were also strong with the likes of Apple (AAPL 99.16, +1.18) and Google (GOOGL 592.70, +8.99) ending higher by 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.