Sector Investing

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From Briefing.com: The markets ended the Wednesday session flipping the table on what we have become used to for the better part of the past week and a half - all three major US indices finished the session in the green. Not to be outdone, Technology (XLK 39.60, +1.90) was the major standout sector, ending the session higher by about 5.0%. Weakness in the Shanghai Composite, which fell 1.3% in the overnight session, did not seem to faze US equities as we began Wednesday trade with large percentage gains in all three major US indices. In unusual fashion (as of late), the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 600 points, closing +619.07 to 16,285.51. The Nasdaq Composite added 191.05 to end Wednesday trade up 4.2% to 4,697.54. And the S&P 500 ended up 72.90 to 1,940.51 -- a 3.9% gain on the day.

Other sectors finished today XLV +4.27%, XLY +3.84%, XLF +3.76%, XLE +3.51%, XLI +3.16%, XLP +3.04%, XLB +2.80%, IYZ +2.60%, XLU +1.83% mostly all outperforming recent weakness. Outside of technology, oil names Cameron (CAM) announced it would be acquired by Schlumberger (SLB) for about $66.36 per share in cash and stock.

A bit into the session, a small spike of positive momentum came in reaction to the comments from FOMC Vice Chair William Dudley, who in a press conference said that a case for a rate hike in September seems less compelling than it was a few weeks ago.

For its part, the S&P 500 Information Technology sector posted hefty gains on the session, as technology as a whole performed particularly well among other sectors. Notable tech name Google (GOOG) posted the most extreme gains in the sector, ending Wednesday trade higher by %. Google was upgraded/added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List in the overnight session, as the firm also raised the target on GOOG to $800 from $660.

Notable sectors within technology First Trust DJ Internet ETF (FDN 67.02, +3.01 +4.70%), Philadelphia Semiconductor (SOX 587.82, +28.24 +5.05%), and Cybersecurity ETF (HACK 27.14, +0.93 +3.55%) also performed well on the session.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Qualcomm (QCOM) announced its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm UK Spectrum (QUKS), has agreed to sell the entirety of its UK L-Band spectrum (1452 - 1492 MHz) in two separate transactions. Under a transaction between QUKS and Vodafone UK (VOD), Vodafone agreed to purchase 20 MHz of the spectrum. Under a separate transaction between QUKS and Hutchinson 3G UK Limited (H3G), H3G has agreed to purchase 20 MHz of the spectrum.

EMC's (EMC) Board was rumored to be considering a plan where it would be acquired by VMWare (VMW), according to ReCode.

Intuit (INTU) was the subject of a TechCrunch article detailing the elimination of about 249 jobs at the company.

Elsewhere in the technology sector:

Leidos (LDOS) was awarded a prime contract by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to provide deployment of transportation security capabilities for the Office of Security Capabilities (OSC). The Leidos East Region single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity firm fixed-price contract has a five-year period of performance with a combined maximum ceiling of $450 million established as the cumulative total of all orders issued under all three geographic region contract awards.

Integrated Silicon (ISSI) and Uphill Investment extend the termination date of their merger until December 12, 2015.

Coherent (COHR) authorized a $25 million repurchase of its common stock through August 31, 2016.

Cellcom Israel (CEL) announced the entrance into a loan agreement with an Israeli bank to provide the company a deferred loan in a principal amount of NIS 140 million, unlinked, which will be provided to the company in December 2016, and will bear an annual fixed interest of 4.9%.

MiX Telematics (MIXT) announced its Board of Directors has concluded its previously announced review of the company's strategic alternatives. This extensive review, conducted with guidance from external advisors, included the optimization of capital structures and an evaluation of various ownership options, with the latter resulting in significant interest from prospective buyers.

Digital Ally (DGLY) announced a $2.5 million stock buyback program. Also, announced it has received a follow-on order for its DVM-800 in-car video systems, FirstVu HD body-worn video cameras and VuLink automatic activation systems from the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department.

Drone Aviation (DRNE) announced it has been awarded an order from the United States EPA for customized winch systems and related equipment for use at the Agency's National Risk Management Research Laboratory as part of its on-going emission sampling program utilizing tethered aerostats. The company expects to complete winch manufacturing and deliver the units to the EPA by mid-October 2015.

Technology names in reaction to earnings:

Solera (SLH) reported Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.81 per share on revenues which rose 10.9% year/year to $297.07 million.

Nimble Storage (NMBL) reported Q2 (Jul) loss of $0.10 per share on revenues which rose 48.9% year/year to $80.1 million. Non-GAAP Gross Margin was 67.8%. The company issued mixed guidance for Q3, sees EPS of ($0.09)-($0.08) on revenues of $86-88 million.

Analyst actions:

GOOG was upgraded/added to Conviction Buy List from Neutral at Goldman, ARMH was upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at Bernstein, NMBL was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Wunderlich, IBM was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus, NOK was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Danske Bank, ORAN was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup, LXK and NTES were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Standpoint Research; GRUB was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays, HIVE was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA/Merrill

4:10 pm : The stock market rebounded from six days of consecutive losses on Wednesday with the S&P 500 spiking 3.9%. The benchmark index narrowed its weekly loss to 1.5% while the Nasdaq gained 4.2%, trimming this week's decline to 0.2%.

Equity indices began the day on a higher note after index futures rallied during overnight action. That advance occurred even as China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%, seeing little response to yesterday's rate cut from the People's Bank of China.

Once the trading day begun, the key indices spent the first three hours of action in a slow slide from their highs. The market saw little immediate reaction to comments from FOMC vice Chair William Dudley, who said that a case for a rate hike in September seems less compelling than it was a few weeks ago.

Despite the comments from Mr. Dudley, the market continued dripping from highs, but the S&P 500 was able to reverse course upon hitting the 1,880 level. Although there was nothing special about that mark, it is worth noting that the turn occurred as the dollar began rallying against the euro and yen, suggesting the return of carry flows. The greenback continued climbing alongside equities into the late afternoon, pushing the Dollar Index higher by 0.7%.

On a related note, Treasuries retreated during morning action and saw a second slide in the afternoon that sent the benchmark 10-yr yield higher by 12 basis points to 2.19%.

The considerable spike in yields kept the utilities sector (+1.7%) behind the broader market while the remaining nine groups gained between 2.8% and 5.3%.

The technology sector (+5.3%) finished in the lead after showing relative strength throughout the trading day. Large cap names like Apple (AAPL 109.62, +5.89), Facebook (FB 87.19, +4.19), and Google (GOOGL 659.74, +47.27) spiked between 5.1% and 7.7% while high-beta chipmakers also outperformed. The PHLX Semiconductor Index jumped 5.1% with all 30 components posting gains. Thanks to today's surge, the SOX index is now up 1.6% for the week.

Elsewhere, the health care sector (+4.3%) finished in second place, thanks in part to the relative strength in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 341.75, +16.49) spiked 5.1%, turning this week's loss into a 0.6% week-to-date gain.

Also of note, the energy sector (+3.5%) settled not far behind the broader market even though crude oil surrendered 1.6%, falling to $38.68/bbl. There was some M&A activity in the sector that may have been lost in the shuffle as Cameron (CAM 59.93, +17.46) surged 41.1% after agreeing to be acquired by Schlumberger (SLB 70.09, -2.43) for $14.80 billion in cash and stock, which translates to roughly $66.36/share.

Today's participation was well above average with more than 1.25 billion shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to Durable Orders and MBA Mortgage Index:

Durable goods orders increased 2.0% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 4.1% (from 3.4%) in June while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline of 0.6%
A big reason for the upside surprise came from the automotive sector as orders for motor vehicles and parts products rose 4.0% in July after increasing 0.8% in June.
Aircraft orders, which were expected to push overall durable goods orders into negative territory, declined a relatively modest 7.8%. That drop was easily offset by the aforementioned increase in motor vehicle orders
Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.6% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 1.0% (from 0.6%) in June while the consensus expected an increase of 0.4%
The weekly MBA Mortgage Index ticked up 0.2% to follow last week's 3.6% increase

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 275K) and the second estimate of Q2 GDP (consensus 3.1%) will be released at 8:30 ET while the Pending Home Sales report for July (expected 1.0%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite -0.8% YTD
S&P 500 -5.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -6.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.6% YTD

DJ30 +619.07 NASDAQ +191.05 SP500 +72.90 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2341/2.15 bln/722 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2490/1.28 bln/650

3:35 pm :

The dollar index continued to climb higher today, which helped weigh on commodities, which are currently sitting at a 16-year low, according to the Bloomberg Commodity Index.
Metals all ended the day lower, led by silver, which ended floor trading -4.1% at $14.05/oz (Sept contract).
Dec gold lost -1.2% to $1124.470/oz, while Dec copper fell --0.6% to $2.25/lb.
WTI crude sold off into the close of pit trading today, ending the session -1.6% at $38.68/barrel.
In other energy, Sept natural gas lost flat at $2.69/MMBtu.

11:47 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (293) outpacing new highs (8) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ARIS, ARL, EXPR, FBNK, LALT, MPB, NEOS, YCB

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AAMC, ACAT, ACH, AEZS, AGM, AHGP, AIQ, ANDE, ANY, APA, AR, AREX, ARNA, ARTW, ASA, ATU, AUY, AVAL, AVL, AWX, BCEI, BDC, BDN, BEBE, BGMD, BHE, BKH, BLT, BOOM, BOXC, BRG, BUI, BVN, BVXV, CALA, CAS, CBK, CBMX, CCG, CCUR, CDOR, CENX, CETC, CGNT, CID, CIG, CIG.C, CLCD, CLSN, CNA, CNP, COG, CORR, COSI, CPA, CPGX, CPN, CRC, CRDT, CRZO, CSB, CSTE, CSU, CUB, CUZ, DAKT, DANG, DAR, DCIX, DDC, DEL, DFT, DNN, DRAM, DSCI, DSWL, DXLG, DXPE, EBR, ECR, EGLE, EGN, EGO, EPE, EQGP, ERA, ETR, EV, EVA, EVDY, EVH, EXH, FBZ, FCX, FE, FENG, FLKS, FMC, FNWB, FRED, FSM, FTHI, GBSN, GDP, GEF, GEF.B, GEOS, GGB, GGN, GLPW, GLRE, GLRI, GLU, GMLP, GNRT, GNT, GOGL, GOV, GPRK, GPT, GSM, GZT, HBM, HCOM, HES, HGR, HMY, HSC, HZO, ICB, ICL, IDSA, IMO, ININ, IRBT, IRC, IRET, IRT, JEC, JPEP, JRJC, KAMN, KELYA, KMF, KODK, KRO, KSS, KTOS, KW, LALT, LF, LILAK, LINE, LMOS, LNCO, MDM, MDU, MEG, MIL, MLHR, MNKD, MNTX, MRLN, MTSC, MTZ, MYE, MYOS, NAD, NAO, NAVI, NCS, NEFF, NEM, NGD, NMI, NNVC, NOR, NRCIA, NRG, NSAM, NVG, NYV, OAS, OCIP, OFG, OGE, OHI, OLN, ORIG, PAAS, PACD, PAI, PBI, PCCC, PCTI, PDM, PEIX, PHX, PIP, PJC, PKOH, PLG, PLTM, POL, PQ, PRGN, PRGX, PRIM, PSAU, PSG, PTEN, PXD, QEP, QRHC, QUAD, RATE, RBY, RCAP, REGI, REX, REXR, RGLD, RIG, RL, RMCF, RNET, RNWK, RYN, SBSI, SDLP, SGM, SGMO, SGY, SID, SKBI, SLB, SLRC, SLW, SNP, SPP, SRC, SRE, SRF, STAG, STR, STV, SUNE, SWN, TBBK, TERP, TESO, TG, TLR, TORM, TOT, TRGP, TUP, TUTI, TWI, TWIN, TYPE, UBP, UEC, UEIC, UIHC, ULTR, UPS, UTG, UTI, UTIW, UUUU, VALE.P, VCIT, VGGL, VPG, VRTS, VRTV, VSEC, VSTM, VTL, WEA, WGBS, WIA, WIW, WLFC, WPP, WPX, WRI, WY, XGTI, YPF, ZAIS, ZFC

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: DBC, DJP, FXA, GDX, JJA, PALL, SIL, SIVR, SLV, UGA, XME, XOP

8:30 am American Superconductor announces two new D-VAR STATCOM orders worth ~$6 mln (AMSC) : The systems are expected to be delivered by the end of this fiscal year.