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From Briefing.com: The Technology Sector fell for the fourth time in five days on Thursday. The S&P 500 Information Technology Index fell 1.46%, underperforming the S&P 500, which fell 0.92%. It was a sea of red for the sector today, with all industry groups closing in the red. Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals led the sector lower, falling 2.66% on the day. Worst performing large caps in the group include Apple (AAPL 106.82 -2.98), Hewlett Packard (HPQ 38.19 -1.27), and 3D Systems (DDD 28.33 -1.39).

Elsewhere, Lending Club (LC 22.09 +1.03) and Google (GOOG 501.79 +0.92) announced a new pilot program partnership to facilitate low-interest financing to eligible Google partners. Eligible Google partners will have access to financing with low interest and no fees, enabling them to invest in business development and other growth opportunities, hire additional staff and plan for future expansion. Currently, the pilot program is available to Google reseller partners in the U.S. who meet certain eligibility criteria. Eligible partners can obtain two-year loans of up to $600,000 to invest in growth initiatives. With an interest-only structure in the first year and a fully amortizing second year, the loan payback schedule is designed to match the cash-flow profile of growth investments.

Blackberry (BBRY 10.11 -2.40) pulled back 19.8% from yesterday's late spike on Samsung (SSNLF) M&A speculation. Subsequent reports have indicated both companies denied talks. Globe and Mail article also out last night suggested BBRY dismissed a 'handful' buyers in lieu of pursuing its own turnaround plan.

Intel (INTC 36.19 -0.16) reported earnings after the close on Thursday. The company reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.74 per share, $0.08 better than the analyst estimates of $0.66. Additionally, INTC reported revenues rose 6.4% year/year to $14.72 billion vs the $14.71 billion consensus. INTC issued in-line guidance for Q1, noting it sees Q1 revs of $13.2-14.2 billion and a gross margin of 60%, +/- a few % points.

In analyst related news, Xilinx (XLNX 41.04 -0.33) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, its price target lowered to $45 from $54.

Silicon Labs (SLAB 44.17 -2.79) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

SAP AG (SAP 66.88 -0.09) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

Yelp (YELP 50.12 -2.08) was upgraded to Hold form Sell at Evercore ISI.

Corning (GLW 23.02 -0.23) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Global Payment (GPN 84.68 -0.02) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan, its price target raised to $97 from $89.

4:15 pm : The major averages continued their rough week with the S&P 500 (-0.9%) registering its fifth consecutive decline after failing to hold the 100-day moving average (2007). The price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.6%) fared a bit better while the Nasdaq Composite (-1.5%) and Russell 2000 (-1.7%) underperformed.

This morning, market participants were greeted by an astounding move in the foreign exchange market. Specifically, the Swiss franc was up as much as 25.0% against the dollar after the Swiss National Bank abandoned the EURCHF 1.20 floor and lowered the benchmark deposit rate to -0.75%. The move was likely taken in anticipation of a QE announcement from the ECB, and the dollar/franc pair was able to narrow its loss to 15.0% (0.8687); however, that was still large enough to resonate with investors who were lulled into a false sense of security by the SNB's pledge to maintain the exchange rate floor.

Equity indices began the day with slim gains, but the morning strength faded alongside crude oil, which slid from a session high at $51.00/bbl to $46.57/bbl. The energy component ended the day lower by 4.1%, but that masked the fact that crude fell almost 9.0% from its best level of the day. Furthermore, that pullback was closely correlated with a broad-market slide, which was paced by cyclical sectors.

The two top-weighted groups-technology (-1.5%) and financials (-1.3%)-spent the day at the bottom of the leaderboard and their underperformance prevented the market from staging a notable rebound. Most large cap tech components held up relatively well, but Apple (AAPL 106.86, -2.94) fell 2.7% after Mizuho downgraded the stock to 'Neutral' from 'Buy.' Similarly, high-beta social media names lagged with the likes of Facebook (FB 74.05, -2.23), LinkedIn (LNKD 213.21, -6.22), and Yelp (YELP 50.12, -2.08) falling between 2.8% and 4.0%. Chipmakers also struggled, but the PHLX Semiconductor Index (-0.8%) ended ahead of the broader market thanks to an 8.7% surge in Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 22.89, +1.83) after the company beat earnings estimates and issued upbeat guidance.

Elsewhere, the financial sector retreated under the weight of two more quarterly reports that missed their mark. Citigroup (C 47.23, -1.82) reported below-consensus earnings and revenue while Bank of America (BAC 15.20, -0.84) delivered a one-cent beat on light revenue. The two names posted respective losses of 3.7% and 5.2% while the sector extended its January decline to 6.1%.

Also of note, the consumer discretionary sector (-1.3%) finished among the laggards as retailers and homebuilders struggled. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 92.12, -2.16) lost 2.3% while iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 24.60, -1.30) fell 5.0% despite better than expected earnings from Lennar (LEN 42.48, -3.28). The stock fell 7.2% after company management made cautious comments about its outlook, echoing the remarks made earlier this week by KB Home (KBH 12.39, -1.15).

On the upside, consumer staples (+0.2%) and utilities (+0.7%) posted gains while another countercyclical sector-health care (-1.1%)-was pressured by biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 307.70, -7.87) lost 2.5%, which contributed to the underperformance of the Nasdaq.

Treasuries registered solid gains with the 10-yr yield sliding nine basis points to 1.76%.

Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 850 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included Initial Claims, PPI, Empire Manufacturing, and the Philadelphia Fed Survey:


The initial claims level increased to 316,000 from an upwardly revised 297,000 (from 294,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 290,000
That was the largest initial claims level since the beginning of June 2014 when 318,000 claims were filed
It is possible that the rise in claims is the beginning of an upward move in layoff levels from energy-related activities. Low oil prices are expected to cause layoffs as fracking becomes uneconomical
Producer prices declined 0.3% in December after declining 0.2% in November while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline of 0.4%
Total energy prices fell 6.6% in December, which was the sixth consecutive month of price declines
Excluding food and energy, core PPI increased 0.3% in December after being flat in November. The consensus expected an uptick of 0.1%
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for January registered a reading of 9.9, which was above the prior month's reading of -1.2 and also above the Briefing.com consensus estimate, which was pegged at 6.5
The Philadelphia Fed's Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey dropped to 6.3 in January from a downwardly revised 24.3 (from 24.5) while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 19.0
That was the lowest level since the index turned negative (-6.3) in February 2014

Tomorrow, December CPI will be released at 8:30 ET (Briefing.com consensus -0.4%) while Industrial Production (consensus -0.1%) and Capacity Utilization (expected 79.9%) will cross the wires at 9:15 ET. The Michigan Sentiment Index for January (consensus 94.1) will be reported at 9:55 ET.

Dow Jones Industrial Average -2.8% YTD
S&P 500 -3.2% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -3.5% YTD
Russell 2000 -4.0% YTD

DJ30 -106.38 NASDAQ -68.50 SP500 -18.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 619/1.82 bln/2472 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1101/858.2 mln/2005

4:09 pm Intel beats by $0.08, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line, gross margin a tad light; reaffirms FY15 guidance (INTC) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.74 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.66; revenues rose 6.4% year/year to $14.72 bln vs the $14.71 bln consensus.


PC Client Group revenue of $8.9 bln, down 3 percent sequentially and up 3 percent year-over-year.Data Center Group revenue of $4.1 bln, up 11 percent sequentially and up 25 percent year-over-year.Internet of Things Group revenue of $591 mln, up 12 percent sequentially and up 10 percent year-over-year.Software and services operating segments revenue of $557 million, flat sequentially and down 6 percent year-over-year. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $13.2-14.2 bln vs. $13.77 bln Capital IQ Consensus; gross margin 60%, +/- a few % points vs. ests of ~61%.

Co reaffirms guidance for FY15, sees mid single digit rev growth vs. +4% consensus with gross margin 62%, +/- a couple % points.
Cap-ex $10 bln, R&D +MG&A spend ~$20 bln.

3:45 pm :

WTI crude oil displayed huge volatility again today, ultimately closing $2.19 lower at $46.36/barrel
This is well off of today's high of $51.27/barrel
Feb natural gas fell 6 cents today to close at $3.17/MMBtu
Feb gold rose $29.60 to $1264.60, while Mar silver rose $0.11 to $17.10/oz

4:07 pm Tessera Tech raises 2015 recurring revenue guidance to $235 mln vs $223.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Est, up from $195 mln; reaches litigation dissolution agreement with Amkor Tech (AMKR) (TSRA) : Co has entered into an agreement with Amkor Technology (AMKR) to settle all pending litigation between the two companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Amkor will pay Tessera a total of $155 million, comprised of sixteen equal quarterly recurring payments commencing in 1Q15, and continuing through 4Q18. This settlement includes the resolution of the previously awarded judgment of $128.3 million plus interest, as well as additional amounts related to the settlement of other proceedings.
Co stated "This settlement puts our disputes behind us, and opens the door for Amkor and Tessera to have technical collaboration discussions on advanced packaging technologies."
Co also raised 2015 recurring revenue guidance to $235 mln vs $223.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Est, up from $195 mln.

4:02 pm JDS Uniphase issues statement in response to Sandell; Board remains committed to acting in the best interest of all shareholders and to strong corporate governance and Board remains committed to evaluating all opportunities for additional or greater value creation (JDSU) :

The JDSU Board of Directors remains committed to acting in the best interest of all shareholders and to strong corporate governance.
Consistent with the Board's historical approach of regularly reviewing corporate governance best practices, and after discussions with many of the Company's shareholders both before and after the December 2014 Annual Meeting, the Company undertook an evaluation of potential changes to the advance notice provisions of the Company's bylaws. The Board expects to finalize its decision on any such changes in this calendar quarter following additional shareholder outreach.

Large Cap Gainers

TSM (22.74 +7.98%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of NT$3.08 per share, NT$0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of NT$3.00; revenues rose 52.6% year/year to NT$222.52 bln vs the NT$220.22 bln consensus.
KRFT (65.14 +3.79%): Upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
TGT (75.94 +2.16%): Announced plans to discontinue operating stores in Canada; raised Q4 US comp guidance to +3% from +2%.

Large Cap Losers

BBY (34.79 -12.82%): Reported adj. holiday comps +2.6%, raised comp guidance to in-line with estimates, raised operating margin guidance slightly; guided 1H16 comps, margins down.
MGA (92.98 -4.16%): Downgraded to Hold from Buy at TD Securities; tgt lowered to $110 from $120.
BAC (15.43 -3.83%): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.31; revenues fell 12.7% year/year to $20.15 bln vs the $21.01 bln consensus.

Mid Cap Gainers

PPC (34.71 +10.09%): Announced a special cash dividend of $5.77 per share.
LC (22.29 +5.84%): Announced a new pilot program in partnership with Google (GOOG) to facilitate low-interest financing to eligible Google partners.
ECA (13.02 +3.91%): Heard upgraded earlier to Buy from Hold at Tudor Pickering.

Mid Cap Losers

PODD (31.26 -18.81%): Downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Raymond James, downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan; tgt lowered to $35 from $45.
BBRY (10.11 -19.75%): Announced it has not engaged in discussions with Samsung (SSNLF) with respect to any possible offer to purchase BlackBerry.
LEN (43.4 -5.16%): Despite earnings that beat both top and bottom line estimates, co guided for slightly lower gross margins in FY15 as the "core homebuilding business is well positioned to deliver strong top and bottom-line growth throughout the year; see FY15 gross margins of ~24% vs. 25.4% last year.

4:07 pm Tessera Tech raises 2015 recurring revenue guidance to $235 mln vs $223.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Est, up from $195 mln; reaches litigation dissolution agreement with Amkor Tech (AMKR) (TSRA) : Co has entered into an agreement with Amkor Technology (AMKR) to settle all pending litigation between the two companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Amkor will pay Tessera a total of $155 million, comprised of sixteen equal quarterly recurring payments commencing in 1Q15, and continuing through 4Q18. This settlement includes the resolution of the previously awarded judgment of $128.3 million plus interest, as well as additional amounts related to the settlement of other proceedings.

Co stated "This settlement puts our disputes behind us, and opens the door for Amkor and Tessera to have technical collaboration discussions on advanced packaging technologies."
Co also raised 2015 recurring revenue guidance to $235 mln vs $223.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Est, up from $195 mln.

4:02 pm JDS Uniphase issues statement in response to Sandell; Board remains committed to acting in the best interest of all shareholders and to strong corporate governance and Board remains committed to evaluating all opportunities for additional or greater value creation (JDSU) :

The JDSU Board of Directors remains committed to acting in the best interest of all shareholders and to strong corporate governance.
Consistent with the Board's historical approach of regularly reviewing corporate governance best practices, and after discussions with many of the Company's shareholders both before and after the December 2014 Annual Meeting, the Company undertook an evaluation of potential changes to the advance notice provisions of the Company's bylaws. The Board expects to finalize its decision on any such changes in this calendar quarter following additional shareholder outreach.

11:55 am Relative sector weakness (:TECHX) : Sectors displaying relative weakness in recent trade include: Retail XRT, Housing XHB, Discretionary XLY.

11:53 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (195) outpacing new lows (158) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAT, ADVS, AEC, AFFX, AGIO, AKR, ALGT, ANTM, APTS, APU, ARE, ASPX, AVB, AVID, AVIV, AWR, AXL, AYN, BDN, BFY, BIP, BLE, BMR, BMRN, BNDX, BNJ, BNY, BOTJ, BPY, BSE, BTT, BXP, CBL, CCA, CHD, CIVI, CLX, COR, CRL, CRME, CUBE, CXH, DCT, DEG, DENN, DFT, DLR, DMB, DPS, DRE, EIM, ELS, ENX, EPR, EQR, EQY, ESS, EVM, EXR, FCE.A, FCE.B, FRT, G, GGP, GRT, HCN, HCP, HDB, HIW, HME, HNP, HQL, HR, HRC, IART, IFF, IFNA, IGR, IMKTA, INAP, INN, IQI, IRM, ITC, ITCI, JRS, KIM, KITE, KRFT, KTF, KTF, LFC, LPT, LTC, MAA, MAC, MCA, MFL, MFT, MHK, MHN, MIY, MJI, MMS, MNE, MNP, MNST, MO, MPA, MPW, MRGE, MUJ, MUS, MVF, MYC, MYJ, MYM, NAC, NAN, NBD, NBIX, NEV, NID, NIQ, NKX, NMO, NMZ, NNN, NNP, NPSP, NPT, NQI, NQP, NRO, NTES, NVCN, NVS, NVSL, NVX, NXJ, NXN, NXZ, NZH, O, OFC, OHI, PCG, PEI, PENN, PMF, PML, PMM, PMO, PPG, PPS, PSA, PSG, PZC, QURE, REXR, RFI, RKT, RMD, RPAI, RQI, RUTH, SBRA, SERV, SKT, SLG, SPG, SRC, STZ, STZ.B, TA, TCO, TLYS, TNET, UBA, UDR, UHT, UIHC, UTHR, VBLT, VCV, VKI, VKQ, VMO, VNO, VVC, WBB, WGL, WM, WRE, XON

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AEG, AEGN, AIMC, AIXG, AKS, ANAT, ANGI, ANY, AR, ARCX, ASCMA, ASTI, ATNM, ATU, AWAY, BALT, BCOR, BKU, BONT, BOOM, BPI, BSDM, CACQ, CAK, CAS, CCS, CEL, CFX, CG, CHMI, CLB, CM, CMC, CNO, CNSI, CNTF, CPSS, CTG, CX, DISCA, DISCK, DMD, EHTH, ELRC, EOX, EVTC, FC, FCEL, FIBK, FSC, FSIC, FUEL, GBCI, GEF, GEF.B, GHL, GNBC, HFC, HHC, HSC, ICLD, IGLD, IOC, ITT, JGH, JOE, KBH, KNM, KOP, LALT, LEI, LF, LOCM, LOJN, LPHI, MAT, MCEP, MCP, MDSY, MEP, MHR, MIXT, MN, MOV, MSL, MTSL, NMIH, NMR, NTI, NWPX, OCLS, OII, P, PACD, PANL, PCLN, PERI, PFBX, PFMT, PGI, PHIIK, PKO, PODD, PRIM, PZN, REXX, RLOG, RPXC, RS, RSH, RSO, RYAM, SB, SBLK, SFUN, SGM, SLF, SMTP, SODA, SPE, SPF, SRV, SSN, SSTK, SSYS, STAA, STRI, TAT, TD, TGB, TRC, TRMK, TWIN, TWMC, TZOO, UBS, UCP, USAP, UTEK, UTI, VECO, VIDE, VRA, VSCI, WB, WCC, WDR, WGO, WNR, WPCS, WPRT, WTW, WWE, XONE, XXII, YOKU, ZEUS, ZU

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: FXI, ICF, IEF, IYR, URE, UUP, VNQ

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: EPOL, EWO, FXE, FXS

6:26 am Taiwan Semi beats by NT$0.08, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (TSM) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of NT$3.08 per share, NT$0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of NT$3.00; revenues rose 52.6% year/year to NT$222.52 bln vs the NT$220.22 bln consensus.

Gross margin for the quarter was 49.7%, operating margin was 39.6%, and net profit margin was 35.9%.Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of NT$ 221-224 bln vs. NT $205.11 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
Gross profit margin is expected to be between 48.5% and 50.5%; Operating profit margin is expected to be between 38.5% and 40.5%. TSMC further expects the capital expenditures for 2015 to be between US$11.5 billion and US$12 billion.