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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 19-Dec-14Dow +26.65 at 17804.8, Nasdaq +16.98 at 4765.38, S&P +9.44 at 2070.65

The stock market capped a strong week with an advance that sent the S&P 500 higher by 0.5% to extend its weekly gain to 3.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%) underperformed today, but the price-weighted index still managed to add 3.0% for the week.

After adding more than 88 points in the previous two sessions, the S&P 500 spent the first half of the day near its flat line, but climbed ahead of the close. Despite the sharp midweek surge, buying interest remained in place today with nine of ten sectors ending the day in the green.

The energy sector (+3.1%) finished in the lead and extended its weekly gain to 9.7%, which put the growth-sensitive group well ahead of the remaining sectors. Crude oil contributed to today's rally as the energy component settled higher by 5.4% at $57.10/bbl and continued its advance into the $58.00/bbl area in electronic trade.

Meanwhile, the other commodity-related sector-materials-ended in the second place with a solid gain of 1.2%. Steelmakers contributed to the advance with the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 36.61, +1.05) climbing 3.0%.

Outside of energy and materials, only one other sectors was able to end ahead of the broader market. Industrials (+0.5%) rallied behind their top-weighted component-General Electric (GE 25.62, +0.48)-while transport stocks ended just behind the broader market. The Dow Jones Transportation Average climbed 0.4% with freight carriers pacing the advance.

Elsewhere, the health care sector (+0.4%) slipped behind the market into the close, but biotechnology outperformed. Juno Therapeutics (JUNO 35.00, +11.00) surged 45.8% in its debut, which represented the largest biotech IPO of the year. For its part, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 317.20, +3.23) rallied 1.0% and helped the Nasdaq Composite end just behind the broader market even as chipmakers lagged.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index shed 0.3% with Xilinx (XLNX 43.00, -0.70) falling 1.6% after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to 'Underperform' from 'Neutral.' As for the broader technology sector (+0.1%), the top-weighted group was kept behind the broader market by relative weakness in influential components like Apple (AAPL 111.78, -0.87), Intel (INTC 36.37, -0.65), and Visa (V 261.67, -2.49).

Shares of Visa were also partially responsible for the underperformance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. However it wasn't just the top-priced listing that kept the index behind the S&P 500. Nike (NKE 94.84, -2.24) fell 2.3% after the company's below-consensus futures orders growth overshadowed better than expected earnings and revenue. Retail names in general displayed weakness with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 94.13, -0.68) shedding 0.7%.

Treasuries climbed throughout the day and ended just below their highs. The benchmark 10-yr yield slipped four basis points to 2.17%.

Today's participation was well ahead of average, which was caused by quadruple witching. As a result more than 2.1 billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Investors did not receive any economic news today and Monday's data will be limited to the Existing Home Sales report (Briefing.com consensus 5.20 million), which will be released at 10:00 ET.

Week in Review: Oil Remains in Focus

The major averages began the new week amid some old concerns. The S&P 500 settled lower by 0.6% while the Nasdaq Composite (-1.0%) underperformed, but most of the attention was directed to crude oil trading pits once again. After plunging nearly 4.0% on Friday and inviting questions about macroeconomic implications of the continued weakness, crude oil enjoyed an overnight rebound before resuming its downtrend. The energy component ended the pit session lower by 3.2% at $55.96/bbl and continued its retreat into the $55.50/bbl area in electronic trade. Similar to oil, European equities and U.S. equity futures rebounded in overnight action, but accelerated their retreat from highs once the U.S. cash market opened. All ten sectors finished the day in negative territory with heavily-weighted financials (-0.9%), health care (-0.9%), and consumer discretionary (-0.6%) keeping the market under pressure.

The stock market endured a volatile session on Tuesday with investors keeping one eye on the oil market and one on the dollar/ruble exchange rate. The Russell 2000 (-0.1%) registered the slimmest decline while the S&P 500 settled lower by 0.9% after failing to hold its 100-day (1988) and 50-day moving averages (2001). On Monday evening, the Central Bank of Russia hiked its key interest rate by 650-basis points to 17.0% with the move aimed at halting the recent freefall in the ruble. The news gave a brief boost to the Russian currency, but the ruble was down more than 18.0% against the dollar in the morning, which invited concerns about potential economic and financial risks stemming from the continued plunge. This sent participants scrambling in search of safe havens, which boosted Treasuries and the yen. Meanwhile in the commodity market, crude oil was down in excess of 2.5% this morning, but the energy component spiked off its low shortly after the start of the pit session. Oil was able to return to its flat line, but could not make a sustained move into the green, ending with a nine-cent loss at $55.87/bbl.

Stocks ended the Wednesday session with solid gains that were paced by the Russell 2000. The small-cap index jumped 3.1% while the S&P 500 settled higher by 2.0% with all ten sectors registering gains. Equities climbed through the first half of action and saw an extension of their rally in the afternoon once the FOMC released its latest policy directive. As expected by some, the Fed removed the "considerable time" language from its policy statement, but that reference was replaced with a call for "patience," which essentially conveyed the same message. Above all, Chair Yellen reiterated that the central bank will remain data-dependent and reserves the right to accelerate, or defer, a rate hike in accordance with what the data are communicating about the progress being made toward the Fed's dual mandate. The policy statement was followed by volatile action in the bond market, but Treasuries slid to lows into the close. The benchmark 10-yr yield spiked eight basis points to 2.14%. As for equities, the energy sector (+4.2%) paced the advance and ended near its high even as crude oil slumped into the close, narrowing its gain to 1.0% at $56.44/bbl.

Equity indices ended the Thursday affair on their highs with the S&P 500 (+2.4%) extending its two-day advance to 88 points. The key averages started the Thursday session on a sharply higher note after equity futures received an early morning boost, which took place after the Swiss National Bank imposed negative deposit rates (-0.25%). The central bank said the move is aimed at lowering the three-month LIBOR below zero and European investors viewed the announcement as a prelude to a sovereign QE program from the European Central Bank. European equities, U.S. futures, and commodities rallied following the news, but crude oil fell victim to renewed selling interest after climbing above the $58.50/bbl level in the early morning. The energy component ended near its worst level of the day, down 4.0% at $54.19/bbl. For its part, the energy sector (+2.1%) displayed relative strength at the start, but was pressured from its high by the intraday weakness in crude. Marathon Oil (MRO) finished ahead of the sector, adding 3.3%, after lowering its 2015 capital, investment, and exploration budget by about 20.0% from this year's levels due to the recent plunge in the price of crude.

 
 Index	   Started Week	 Ended Week    Change	%Change	 YTD % 
 DJIA	     17280.83	  17804.80     523.97      3.0	 7.4 
 Nasdaq	      4653.60	   4765.38     111.78	   2.4	14.1 
 S&P 500	2002.33	   2070.65      68.32	   3.4	12.0 
 Russell 2000  1152.45	   1195.96	43.51	   3.8	 2.8

The S&P Information Technology Index lagged the broader market on Friday, gaining 0.09% versus the S&P 500's 0.46% gain to end the week. The tech sector rose as much as 2% this week, supported by better than expected earnings reports and the Fed's dovish statements following its FOMC meeting.

There were several notable news releases in the sector today. First, Rogers Corp (ROG 79.15 +7.15) rose 9.9% after it announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Arlon, LLC, currently owned by Handy & Harman Ltd. (HNH 38.78 +0.10), for $157 million. The transaction is expected the transaction to be accretive to its earnings in the first 12 months following the acquisition, ex. purchase accounting charges.

Separately, following the announcement that the FBI has accused the North Korean government for Sony's (SNE 20.58 -0.56) cyber-attack, many of the cyber security names saw a boost in interest today on the notion that companies will need to revamp their security systems. Notable names in the space include: Fireye (FEYE 33.06 +2.16), CyberArk (CYBR 41.95 +1.32), Palo Alto Networks (PANW 124.36 +0.92), Qualys Inc (QLYS 39.31 +2.22)

In other news, Accenture (ACN 90.51 +0.77) had its price target raised to $91 from $83 at UBS although it maintained its Neutral rating on the stock. UBS noted that Accenture Digital continues to drive results with greater than 20% growth. Brazil, which has been a turnaround story, is back to double-digit gains, and Europe is seeing improvement in consulting services. Given the widening disparity between expected headcount and revenue growth, there could be upside to estimates.

A few earnings announcements were announced after the close yesterday and prior to the open this morning. First, BlackBerry (BBRY 9.99 -0.08) reported Q3 (Nov) adjusted earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than analysts' estimates. The company also reported that revenues fell 33.5% year/year to $793 million. In regards to outlook, BBRY continues to anticipate maintaining its strong cash position, while increasingly looking for opportunities to prudently invest in growth. The Company continues to anticipate break-even or better cash flow from operations. Additionally, it is expanding its distribution capability, and expects traction from these efforts to manifest some time in fiscal 2016.

Redhat (RHT 68.04 +6.54) also reported earnings. The company reported Q3 (Nov) adjusted earnings of $0.42 per share, $0.02 better than analyst' estimates. Revenues for the company rose 15.0% year/year to $455.9 million, also above estimates. Subscription revenue for the quarter was $395 million, up 15% in U.S. dollars year-over-year, or 18% measured in constant currency. In addition, RHT announced that its CFO, Charles E. Peters Jr, will be retiring.

In regards to analyst actions, GrubHub (GRUB 35.79 +0.51) was initiated with an Outperform at Oppenheimer, its price target set at $42. Oppenheimer noted that the service gives diners a quick and efficient process to order from various restaurants, while restaurants benefit from an expanded diner base. Grubhub's online and mobile platforms allow diners to order from ~30K restaurants in more than 800 US cities and London. In 2013, it processed $1.3 billion of gross food orders, or 2% of its US TAM. Oppenheimer considers GRUB to be a "category leader" in online food ordering.

Elli Mae (ELLI 40.98 -0.04) initiated with an Outperform at RBC Capital Mkts, its price target set at $52. RBC noted that Ellie Mae's software and data network lowers cost, risk and errors while creating efficiencies in the loan origination process. They think competition is fragmented, user market share is just 15% and loan market share is 5%, suggesting plenty of room for growth. In addition, they think we are on the right side of the mortgage credit cycle.

Lastly, LinkedIn (LNKD 234.61 +2.77) had its price target raised to $255 from $230 at Topeka Capital Markets. Topeka mentioned that the increase is based on slightly higher estimates and an increase in their target multiple. The firm sees multiple sources of potential outperformance including Sales Navigator, Sponsored Updates, and pricing within Talent Solutions. Topeka also believes China remains a longer-term opportunity for LNKD.

5:26 pm This week's biggest % gainers/losers (:SCANX) : The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top 20 % gainers

Healthcare:ASPX (53.37 +114.34%),VOLC (17.88 +51.14%),OVAS (47.85 +46.29%),CERS (6.41 +31.62%)
Consumer Discretionary:ZQK (2.72 +42.41%)
Information Technology:DRIV (24.04 +42.33%),BNFT (31.77 +34.16%)
Energy:TLM (7.85 +82.98%),SN (10.47 +50.65%),TPLM (5.78 +42.36%),OAS (17.16 +39.17%),PE (15.92 +38.31%),NBR (13.63 +36.3%),TTI (6.87 +35.77%),EPE (10.13 +35.61%),SGY (18.35 +34.53%),WTI (7.63 +34.33%),BTE (17.96 +33.93%),PVA (6.47 +33.68%),PDCE (43.58 +31.54%)

This week's top 20 % losers

Healthcare:IMGN (6.11 -38.96%),EYES (11.19 -26.57%),XOMA (4.01 -14.32%)
Materials:WOR (30.06 -14.96%),MUX (0.95 -14.19%)
Consumer Discretionary:RT (6.43 -21.59%),FINL (23.35 -17.55%),HABT (35.11 -16.19%),ICON (33.31 -15.13%),WGO (21.23 -14.05%),ARCO (5.27 -11.43%),GPRO (53.9 -10.94%),DNKN (41.67 -10.88%)
Information Technology:SIMG (5.19 -23.22%),QIWI (20.06 -16.28%),XNET (6.6 -12.35%),HDP (23.34 -11.52%)
Energy:TNK (4.7 -12.15%)
Consumer Staples:ANFI (10.5 -12.5%),FRPT (15.01 -12.43%)

4:13 pm Closing Market Summary: Stocks End Strong Week on Upbeat Note (:WRAPX) : The stock market capped a strong week with an advance that sent the S&P 500 higher by 0.5% to extend its weekly gain to 3.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2%) underperformed today, but the price-weighted index still managed to add 3.0% for the week.

After adding more than 88 points in the previous two sessions, the S&P 500 spent the first half of the day near its flat line, but climbed ahead of the close. Despite the sharp midweek surge, buying interest remained in place today with nine of ten sectors ending the day in the green.

The energy sector (+3.1%) finished in the lead and extended its weekly gain to 9.7%, which put the growth-sensitive group well ahead of the remaining sectors. Crude oil contributed to today's rally as the energy component settled higher by 5.4% at $57.10/bbl and continued its advance into the $58.00/bbl area in electronic trade.

Meanwhile, the other commodity-related sector-materials-ended in the second place with a solid gain of 1.2%. Steelmakers contributed to the advance with the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 36.61, +1.05) climbing 3.0%.

Outside of energy and materials, only one other sectors was able to end ahead of the broader market. Industrials (+0.5%) rallied behind their top-weighted component-General Electric (GE 25.62, +0.48)-while transport stocks ended just behind the broader market. The Dow Jones Transportation Average climbed 0.4% with freight carriers pacing the advance.

Elsewhere, the health care sector (+0.4%) slipped behind the market into the close, but biotechnology outperformed. Juno Therapeutics (JUNO 35.00, +11.00) surged 45.8% in its debut, which represented the largest biotech IPO of the year. For its part, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 317.20, +3.23) rallied 1.0% and helped the Nasdaq Composite end just behind the broader market even as chipmakers lagged.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index shed 0.3% with Xilinx (XLNX 43.00, -0.70) falling 1.6% after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to 'Underperform' from 'Neutral.' As for the broader technology sector (+0.1%), the top-weighted group was kept behind the broader market by relative weakness in influential components like Apple (AAPL 111.78, -0.87), Intel (INTC 36.37, -0.65), and Visa (V 261.67, -2.49).

Shares of Visa were also partially responsible for the underperformance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. However it wasn't just the top-priced listing that kept the index behind the S&P 500. Nike (NKE 94.84, -2.24) fell 2.3% after the company's below-consensus futures orders growth overshadowed better than expected earnings and revenue. Retail names in general displayed weakness with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 94.13, -0.68) shedding 0.7%.

Treasuries climbed throughout the day and ended just below their highs. The benchmark 10-yr yield slipped four basis points to 2.17%.

Today's participation was well ahead of average, which was caused by quadruple witching. As a result more than 2.1 billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Investors did not receive any economic news today and Monday's data will be limited to the Existing Home Sales report (Briefing.com consensus 5.20 million), which will be released at 10:00 ET.


Nasdaq Composite +14.1% YTD
S&P 500 +12.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +7.4% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.7% YTD Week in Review: Oil Remains in Focus

The major averages began the new week amid some old concerns. The S&P 500 settled lower by 0.6% while the Nasdaq Composite (-1.0%) underperformed, but most of the attention was directed to crude oil trading pits once again. After plunging nearly 4.0% on Friday and inviting questions about macroeconomic implications of the continued weakness, crude oil enjoyed an overnight rebound before resuming its downtrend. The energy component ended the pit session lower by 3.2% at $55.96/bbl and continued its retreat into the $55.50/bbl area in electronic trade. Similar to oil, European equities and U.S. equity futures rebounded in overnight action, but accelerated their retreat from highs once the U.S. cash market opened. All ten sectors finished the day in negative territory with heavily-weighted financials (-0.9%), health care (-0.9%), and consumer discretionary (-0.6%) keeping the market under pressure.

The stock market endured a volatile session on Tuesday with investors keeping one eye on the oil market and one on the dollar/ruble exchange rate. The Russell 2000 (-0.1%) registered the slimmest decline while the S&P 500 settled lower by 0.9% after failing to hold its 100-day (1988) and 50-day moving averages (2001). On Monday evening, the Central Bank of Russia hiked its key interest rate by 650-basis points to 17.0% with the move aimed at halting the recent freefall in the ruble. The news gave a brief boost to the Russian currency, but the ruble was down more than 18.0% against the dollar in the morning, which invited concerns about potential economic and financial risks stemming from the continued plunge. This sent participants scrambling in search of safe havens, which boosted Treasuries and the yen. Meanwhile in the commodity market, crude oil was down in excess of 2.5% this morning, but the energy component spiked off its low shortly after the start of the pit session. Oil was able to return to its flat line, but could not make a sustained move into the green, ending with a nine-cent loss at $55.87/bbl.

Stocks ended the Wednesday session with solid gains that were paced by the Russell 2000. The small-cap index jumped 3.1% while the S&P 500 settled higher by 2.0% with all ten sectors registering gains. Equities climbed through the first half of action and saw an extension of their rally in the afternoon once the FOMC released its latest policy directive. As expected by some, the Fed removed the "considerable time" language from its policy statement, but that reference was replaced with a call for "patience," which essentially conveyed the same message. Above all, Chair Yellen reiterated that the central bank will remain data-dependent and reserves the right to accelerate, or defer, a rate hike in accordance with what the data are communicating about the progress being made toward the Fed's dual mandate. The policy statement was followed by volatile action in the bond market, but Treasuries slid to lows into the close. The benchmark 10-yr yield spiked eight basis points to 2.14%. As for equities, the energy sector (+4.2%) paced the advance and ended near its high even as crude oil slumped into the close, narrowing its gain to 1.0% at $56.44/bbl.

Equity indices ended the Thursday affair on their highs with the S&P 500 (+2.4%) extending its two-day advance to 88 points. The key averages started the Thursday session on a sharply higher note after equity futures received an early morning boost, which took place after the Swiss National Bank imposed negative deposit rates (-0.25%). The central bank said the move is aimed at lowering the three-month LIBOR below zero and European investors viewed the announcement as a prelude to a sovereign QE program from the European Central Bank. European equities, U.S. futures, and commodities rallied following the news, but crude oil fell victim to renewed selling interest after climbing above the $58.50/bbl level in the early morning. The energy component ended near its worst level of the day, down 4.0% at $54.19/bbl. For its part, the energy sector (+2.1%) displayed relative strength at the start, but was pressured from its high by the intraday weakness in crude. Marathon Oil (:MRO) finished ahead of the sector, adding 3.3%, after lowering its 2015 capital, investment, and exploration budget by about 20.0% from this year's levels due to the recent plunge in the price of crude.

12:24 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

RHT (67.53 +9.81%): Beat Q3 consensus estimates $0.02, beats on revs; sees Q4 revs of $456-459 mln vs $459.26 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, adjusted EPS of $0.40-0.41 vs $0.41 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; Price tgt raised at Oppenheimer, Stifel, Needham, others.
KMX (66.11 +9.22%): Reported Q3 (Nov) earnings of $0.60 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.54; revenues rose 15.8% year/year to $3.41 bln vs the $3.26 bln consensus.
ALLY (23.34 +2.57%): The co announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has sold its remaining 54.9 million shares of Ally common stock at $23.25/share.

Large Cap Losers

EQT (79.01 -4.23%): Dropping as Natural Gas futures drop 3.5% on the day following warmer weather forecasts in the coming weeks.
NKE (94.06 -3.11%): Falling after earnings despite a strong quarter; futures orders were in-line but slowed QoQ and gross margin came in at the low end of guidance; co warned that they face FX headwinds going forwards.
XLNX (42.63 -2.47%): Downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Mid Cap Gainers

ISIS (65.02 +9.19%): Favorable mention on Thursday's Mad Money.
FEYE (32.99 +6.76%): Continued strength in cyber security names as the FBI officially accuses North Korea of being behind the Sony (SNE) hacking.
CTAS (78.89 +5.91%): Reported Q2 (Nov) earnings of $0.86 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.78; revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $1.12 bln vs the $1.11 bln consensus; Raised FY15 EPS above consensus, revs in-line.

Mid Cap Losers

UBNT (31.04 -7.78%): Initiated with a Sell at Goldman; tgt $28.
FL (53.35 -7.83%): Downgraded to Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
BBRY (9.56 -5.11%): Reported Q3 (Nov) adj earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.06); revenues fell 33.5% year/year to $793 mln vs the $919.63 mln consensus.

7:09 am BlackBerry beats by $0.07, misses on revs; reports 2 mln BBRY smartphones; continues to target sustainable non-GAAP profitability some time in FY16 (shares halted -- will resume 7:30 ET) (:BBRY) : Reports Q3 (Nov) adj earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.06); revenues fell 33.5% year/year to $793 mln vs the $919.63 mln consensus.

The revenue breakdown for the quarter was ~46% for hardware, 46% for services and 8% for software and other revenue. During the third quarter, the Company recognized hardware revenue on ~2 mln BlackBerry smartphones vs 2.2 mln ests vs 1.9 mln last year. Non-GAAP and GAAP gross margin of 52%.Outlook: The Company continues to anticipate maintaining its strong cash position, while increasingly looking for opportunities to prudently invest in growth. The Company continues to anticipate break-even or better cash flow from operations. The Company is expanding its distribution capability, and expects traction from these efforts to manifest some time in fiscal 2016. The company continues to target sustainable non-GAAP profitability some time in fiscal 2016.Co also announced that BES12: a cross-platform EMM solution includes support for Android 5.0 Lollipop. Co also announced that Ocean Capital Investments, and its subsidiaries, members of the Irving family of companies, are migrating to BES12: a cross-platform EMM solution by BlackBerry.7:04 am Canadian Solar issues statement in response to the United States Department of Commerce's decision to impose counter-veiling and anti-dumping tariffs on certain Chinese and Taiwanese photovoltaic modules and cell imports (:CSIQ) : "We are very disappointed by the DOC's decision, and the damaging impact this has on the American solar industry. This decision threatens the employment of tens and thousands of American workers in the various facets of the solar industry, including manufacturing, design, installation and operations."