From Briefing.com: The markets closed the session for the first time since last week with gains across the board. From bell to bell, all three major US indices were green, as the Nasdaq Composite led the way, up 102.84 points (+2.28%) at the close to end Wednesday at 4620.17. The S&P 500 closed up 35.94 points (+1.91%) to 1920.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 235.57 points (+1.47%) to 16284.70 to round out the bunch.
Strength today came from the Semiconductor (SOX 602.73, +22.25 +3.83%) sector assemi name EZchip (EZCH 25.16, +3.17 +14.42%) announced Mellanox (MLNX 37.79, -2.00 -5.03%) would acquire the company for$25.50 per share in cash. Per the deal, MLNX will acquire 100% of EZCH'soutstanding ordinary shares for a cash price of $25.50 per share, implying avalue of $811 million (or about $620 net of cash). As such, MLNX expects thetransaction to be non-GAAP accretive from day one. Semis in general followedstrength in EZCH today, as notable names in positive territory in the SOXincluded SNDK +10.61%, SUNE +7.81%, CAVM +5.93%, NXPI +5.77%, TER +5.14%, AVGO +4.38%, ADI +4.37%, TSM +4.32%, TXN +4.20%, LLTC +4.14%, MU +4.03%.
Also posting notable strength was another semi name, WesternDigital (WDC 79.44, +10.57 +15.35%). The company outperformed the broader market strength on theheels of a $3.775 billion equity investment by Unisplendouer.
Solar (TAN 26.54, +1.10 +4.32%) names also posted notable gains on the sessionas top weighted component Yingli Green Energy (YGE 0.40, +0.08 +24.37%) announced debtrestructuring plans. The company plans to restructure the repayment plan for$157 million of mid-term notes due on Oct. 13, 2015. Other components showing strength today were JKS +13.80%, SUNE +7.81%, DQ +7.32%, TSL +7.30%, JASO +5.98%, SOL +5.24%, CSIQ +4.82%, SPWR +4.27%.
Among the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (663.55, +14.71 +2.27%)components, STX +7.23%, EMC +4.45%, AVGO +4.38%, FSLR +4.22%, TEL +3.98%, LRCX +3.93%, NVDA +3.92%, HPQ +3.89%, KLAC +3.76%, FB +3.53% stood out, outperforming the broader market.
Other notable news items among sector components:
Cisco (CSCO 26.25, +0.61 +2.36%) to acquire privately-held Portcullis Computer Security, and the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of FY16.
Prosodie-Capgemini, a France-based service provider and subsidiary of Capgemini specializing in customized call centers, is using Oracle (ORCL 36.21, +0.61 +1.72%) Communications WebRTC Session Controller to help ensure security and communications reliability when it launches product offers on WebRTC technology.
Oracle (ORCL) Health Sciences announced that LSK Global Pharma Services in South Korea, has adopted cloud-based Oracle Health Sciences InForm.
Orange Business Services (ORAN 15.12, +0.09 +0.60%) and Google (GOOG 608.42, +13.45 +2.26%) Cloud Platform, announced the interconnection of Google Cloud Interconnect with Business VPN Galerie, the Orange Business Services secured cloud hub. This collaboration between Google Cloud Platform and Orange Business Services provides enterprises with a network that can deliver business agility and the new ways of working offered by the cloud.
Western Digital (WDC) announced a $3.775 billion equity investment by Unisplendour. Under the terms of said agreement, Unisplendour will purchase newly issued common stock at a price of $92.50 per share. Following the issue, Unis will hold about 15% of WDC's outstanding shares.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 25.61, +0.96 +3.89%) announced the unregistered senior notes offering by its Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) subsidiary. The size and terms of said offering were not disclosed.
Elsewhere in the technology space:
EZchip (EZCH) announced Mellanox Tech (MLNX) will acquire EZCH for $25.50 per share in cash. MLNX shall acquire 100% of EZchip's outstanding ordinary shares for a cash purchase price of $25.50/share implying a transaction value of ~$811 million (~$620 million net of cash). The terms of the transaction have been unanimously approved by both the Mellanox and EZchip Boards of Directors. MLNX also expects the deal to be non-GAAP accretive from day one.
Rentrak (RENT 54.07, +10.68 +24.61%) announced it will merge into subsidiary of comScore (SCOR 46.15, +4.68 +11.29%) in a stock-for-stock merger. Pursuant to the terms of the merger, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, RENT will merge into a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCOR, and each share of RENT will be converted into the right to receive 1.15 shares of SCOR. Upon completion of the merger, SCOR shareholders are expected to own about 66.5% and RENT shareholders are expected to own about 33.5% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. SCOR expects the transaction to be mildly dilutive to its Non-GAAP EPS in 2016, and accretive in 2017.
Renren (RENN 3.10, +0.09 +2.99%) appointed Thomas Jintao Ren as CFO, effective Sept. 30, 2015.
Silicom Limited (SILC 27.02, +1.30 +5.05%) announced the acquisition of ADI Engineering for $10 million in cash and additional considerations upon completion of certain milestones. SILC expects the deal to be accretive to EPS on a non-GAAP basis.
Cray (CRAY 19.81, +0.55 +2.86%) was awarded a contract to provide a Cray XC40 supercomputer to the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP) at Kyoto University in Japan.
Vodafone PLC (VOD 31.74, +0.84 +2.72%) and TPG Telecom Limited announced two commercial agreements under which TPG will provide Dark Fibre and network services to VOD sites and arrangements with TPG to migrate mobile wholesale customer base to VOD networks. Contracts are valued more than $1 billion.
Pericom Semi (PSEM 18.25, +1.35 +7.99%) announced Montage Tech (MONT) has proposed to acquire PSEM for $18.50 per share in cash. The bid represents a competing bid to DIOD's prior $17.00 per share play.
Toshiba (TOSBF 2.48, +0.02 +0.81%) entered into a 400 billion yen commitment line agreement with its main financing banks. The agreement has a two year term until Sept. 29, 2017.
Blue Calypso (BCYP 5.14, -0.05 -0.96%) disclosed the entry into a Securities Purchase Agreement under which it sold 417,500 shares and warrants for gross proceeds of about $1.77 million.
Genpact (G 23.61, +1.11 +4.93%) announced the acquisition of Endeavour Software Technologies Private Limited. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to close in 4Q15.
USA Tech (USAT 2.49, -0.28 -10.11%) filed to delay the company's Form 10-K filing.
Mitel Networks (MITL 6.45, -0.18 -2.71%) announced its syndicate of lenders has agreed to amend certain covenants contained in its senior secured credit facility. Agreement increases the leverage ratio covenant, increases the applicable margin on the initial term loans, and resets the 101 soft call provision to run for one year through Sept. 2016.
On Track Innovations (OTIV 0.80, +0.16 +26.47%) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against mobile carriers AT&T (T 32.56, +0.49 +1.53%) and Verizon (VZ 43.49, -0.04 -0.09%).
Samsung (SSNLF 875.00 flat) announced the launch of SE370, a new monitor with wireless charging capabilities for mobile devices.
Shopify (SHOP 35.20, +1.56 +4.64%) announced the launch of a Twitter (TWTR 26.93, +1.34 +5.24%) partnership to allow SHOP merchants to sell products directly on TWTR at no additional costs.
Insight Enterpr (NSIT 25.85, +0.56 +2.21%) announced the award of a $15 million contract to equip 900 Memphis Police Department vehicles with mobile video technology by 2019.
Arris' (ARRS 25.97, +0.18 +0.70%) announced the proposed acquisition of Pace PLC has received unconditional merger clearance from the Portuguese Competition Authority.
Brocade (BRCD 10.38, -0.05 -0.48%) announced the increase of its stock repurchase authorization by $700 million, bringing the total remaining amount to over $1 billion.
Barracuda Networks (CUDA 15.54, -8.01 -34.01%) announced, in addition to reporting quarterly results, the acquisition of privately held data protection provider Intronis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Brooks Automation (BRKS 11.71, +0.67 +6.07%) announced the approval of $50 million in stock repurchases. The program will be funded through cash on hand and cash generated from operations.
In reaction to earnings:
Barracuda Networks (CUDA) reported better than expected Q2 EPS of $0.10 on revenues which rose 14.1% year-over-year but still fell in-line with expectations at $78.4 million. The company also made cautious comments regarding the storage market, on top of downside guidance of billings between $203-209 million in the second half (+10-13% year-over-year); about $391-394 million for FY 16 (Prior $421-430 million). Also expects FY16 revenue in the range of $320-323 million (Prior $325-330 million). The company also sees FY16 EPS in the range of $0.34-0.36 (Prior $0.36-0.41).
Paychex (PAYX 47.63, +1.62 +3.52%) reported better than expected Q1 EPS of $0.52 on in-line revenues which rose 8.4% year-over-year to $723 million. The company reaffirmed FY16 net income of +8-9% with total service revenues +7-8%. Payroll service revenues of +4-5%, HRS revenues of +10-13%.
Analyst actions:
ADI was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup,
PAY was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus;
CUDA was downgraded at Macquarie and Piper Jaffray,
CMCM was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse
4:43 pm Interdigital Comm announces expansion of Convida Wireless joint venture with Sony (SNE) to include 5g technologies; agreement includes a patent license from InterDigital (IDCC) :
Co announces it is expanding the research scope of its Convida Wireless joint venture with Sony (SNE) to include 5G technologies. The company also announced that this agreement includes a patent license from InterDigital.
Convida Wireless was launched in 2013 as a joint venture to combine Sony's consumer electronics expertise with InterDigital's pioneering Internet of Things (IoT) expertise to drive new research in IoT communications and other connectivity areas. With this agreement, Convida Wireless' focus will also extend to key 5G technologies. Joining Sony and InterDigital as partners in Convida Wireless is Stephens Capital Partners LLC, the principal investing affiliate of Stephens Inc., a full service investment banking firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
4:06 pm Silicon Labs prevails in International Trade Commission final determination (SLAB) :
Co announces that the ITC has found no patent violation by Silicon Labs or its customers in a Final Commission Determination of its Investigation No. 337-TA-910 and has ruled in Silicon Labs' favor.
This ruling affirms the prior finding by the Administrative Law Judge that all patent claims asserted against Silicon Labs' silicon TV tuner products are either invalid or not infringed.
4:02 pm Action Semi reports prelim results from its tender offer for the purchase of up to 84 mln of its outstanding ordinary shares, expecting the offering to be fully subscribed at $2.30/ADS (ACTS) : In accordance with the terms and conditions of the tender offer, and based on the preliminary count by the depositary, Actions Semiconductor expects to accept for purchase 84,000,000 Shares (including Shares represented by ADSs) at a purchase price of $23/60 per Share (or $2.30 per ADS).
4:10 pm : The stock market ended the midweek session on a higher note, but could not avoid its second consecutive monthly decline. The S&P 500 gained 1.9% on Wednesday, but surrendered 2.7% in September. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+2.3%) outperformed today, but lost 3.3% for the month.
The Wednesday session also marked the end of the third quarter, during which the S&P 500 fell 6.9% versus a 7.4% decline in the Nasdaq. The end of Q3 meant that quarter-end positioning and portfolio rebalancing likely played a part in today's advance.
Equity indices began the trading day with solid gains after index futures rallied alongside markets in Europe. The S&P 500 built on its opening spike, notching a session high just before 10:30 ET; however, that move was followed by a pullback into the middle of today's trading range, which occurred alongside rally in the yen that briefly dropped the dollar/yen pair below the 120.00 level.
The short-lived swoon in the dollar/yen pair was followed by a rebound into the 120.00 area while stocks climbed to new highs.
All ten sectors finished the day with gains, paced by a 2.7% spike in the consumer discretionary space. The cyclical sector held the lead throughout the session while four of the remaining nine groups added 2.0% or more. Notably, the health care sector (+2.1%) spent the day among the leaders with biotechnology underpinning the strength. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 303.33, +13.85) surged 4.8%, narrowing its September loss to 11.3%. For its part, the health care sector lost 5.8% in September.
Today's relative strength in biotechnology helped the Nasdaq spend the day ahead of the broader market. To be fair, the index received another helping hand from large cap tech names with the likes of Google (GOOGL 637.20, +14.59), Microsoft (MSFT 44.20, +0.76), and Facebook (FB 89.73, +3.06) gaining between 1.8% and 3.5%. Chipmakers also showed considerable strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index surging 3.8% after EZchip (EZCH 25.16, +3.17) agreed to be acquired by Mellanox (MLNX 37.79, -2.00) for $25.50/share.
In other sector news, Western Digital (WDC 79.40, +10.53) surged 15.3% after Unisplendour made a $3.78 billion investment in WDC by acquiring newly issued shares at $92.50/share.
On the earnings front, Barracuda Networks (CUDA 15.58, -7.97) plunged 33.8% after cautious guidance overshadowed a one-cent beat.
Treasuries slumped overnight, but they began rallying around 7:00 ET with the move continuing into the afternoon. As a result, the 10-yr note reclaimed its overnight loss with the benchmark yield ending flat at 2.05%.
Today's participation was well above average as more than a billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.
Economic data reported today included ADP Employment, Chicago PMI, and MBA Mortgage Index:
The ADP National Employment Report revealed that employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 200K in September, which was in line with the Briefing.com consensus
The August reading was revised down to 186,000 from 190,000
The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 6.7% to follow last week's 13.9% spike
The Chicago PMI dropped to 48.7 in September from 54.4 in August while the Briefing.com Consensus expected a decline to 52.9
The reading highlights this year's volatility in the survey as monthly contractions (five times) have occurred more regularly than expansions (four times) so far in 2015
The Production Index dropped to 43.6 from 59.0 in August, representing the lowest reading since July 2009 and the biggest one-month decline since February
Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 270K) will be released at 8:30 ET while August Construction Spending (consensus 0.5%) and September ISM Index (consensus 50.6) will both be reported at 10:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite -2.5% YTD
S&P 500 -6.8% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -8.6% YTD
DJ30 +235.57 NASDAQ +102.84 SP500 +35.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2221/2.14 bln/787 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2364/1.20 bln/764
3:40 pm :
The dollar index contioned to trade in positive territory today, which helped weigh on commodities.
Copper futures rallied this morning following the recent decision by operators of the Collahuasi mine (Anglo American and Glencore) to significantly cut output.
Copper remained near today's high and closed +4% at $2.34/lb.
Dec gold, however, slipped 1% today to end at $1115.30/oz, while Dec silver fell 0.4% to $14.53/oz.
Moving onto energy, natural gas futures slid lower today and finished the session -2.3% at $2.53/MMBtu. Nov crude oil lost 0.2% to $45.15/barrel.
3:14 pm Atmel and Dialog Semiconductor (DLGNF) amend merger agreement to clarify that the only required vote of Dialog shareholders will be to authorize Board to allot and issue ADS (ATML) :
Cos have amended the merger agreement to clarify that the only required vote of Dialog shareholders will be to authorize the board of directors of Dialog to allot and issue the ordinary shares underlying the American Depositary Shares to be issued in connection with the Atmel acquisition. The vote required to approve this matter is a simple majority of the ordinary shares present and voting at the meeting in person or by proxy. The amendment was based on Dialog's determination that an amendment of its articles of association will not be required to complete the transaction.
The merger agreement amendment deletes the reference to a possible articles amendment and the 75% vote that would have been required for such an amendment.
Dialog expects that its shareholder meeting will be held in the fourth quarter of 2015.
3:10 pm Relm Wireless receives $26.2 million in awards from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for portable radios and repeaters (Shares Still Halted) (RWC) :
Co received awards under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Tactical Communications Contract totaling $26.2 million for its KNG series portable radios, repeaters and accessories. The equipment will be deployed by the Transportation Security Administration (:TSA) at over 400 airports in the continental U.S. as well as locations outside the continental U.S.
The awards are for a base-term of one year that commenced on September 28, 2015, with four one-year options. The first option year was partially exercised immediately. The awards are comprised of delivery orders totaling $15.5 million, which includes the base-term and partial exercise of option year 1, and stipulates delivery of the equipment within 180 days. The awards do not specify or guarantee the exercise of the remaining option years, which total $10.7 million.
11:43 am Slight extension of slip off early highs -- Dow +180, S&P +23, Nasdaq Comp +66 (:TECHX) :
11:38 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (232) outpacing new highs (18) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAP, BKMU, CBNJ, COKE, CSFL, CUBE, EBSB, EEFT, EFSC, EZCH, FIZZ, INFY, LABL, NVDA, PSEM, RVSB, TRAK, ULBI
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ABUS, ABY, AHT, AI, AIRM, AMTG, APP, APPY, ARAY, ARDC, ARTW, ASA, ATRO, ATU, AVNW, AXLL, BBEP, BBLU, BBRG, BCEI, BCLI, BIOD, BNTC, BRS, BSL, BV, BWEN, BWP, BZH, CBA, CBL, CBYL, CC, CEN, CGG, CGI, CHCT, CHMA, CHMI, CLNY, CMO, CMTL, CNIT, CNV, CNXC, CPGX, CRC, CSG, CUDA, CUR, CYCC, CYS, DAR, DCI, DDD, DHF, DISCB, DPG, DWSN, DXM, ECR, ECT, EHI, EMES, EMO, ENLK, ENVA, EQS, EQT, ERA, EVA, EVEP, EXXI, FBRC, FDEU, FEI, FELP, FGP, FINL, FLXN, FMO, FNGN, FPL, FSYS, FWRD, GEOS, GER, GG, GI, GLF, GLRE, GLYC, GMLP, GMZ, GOGL, GPS, GROW, GSAT, GSIT, GUT, GVA, HAE, HK, HTR, HTS, HWCC, I, IMN, INF, IPCI, ISH, IVAC, IVR, JASN, JHI, JVA, KKD, KNX, KONA, KOOL, KW, LADR, LENS, LF, LGCY, LNTH, LVS, LXU, MAT, MBUU, MCC, MCRB, MDM, MHE, MIE, MRIN, MSL, MSM, MTGE, MXPT, NAO, NAV, NAVI, NBG, NBRV, NCTY, NEPT, NES, NL, NM, NNI, NOR, NSAM, NTAP, NWHM, NWSA, NYLD, NYLD.A, NYMT, OCIP, OESX, ORIG, OVAS, OXGN, PACB, PARN, PBYI, PHIIK, PICO, QTWW, QUAD, RAX, REXI, RICE, RKDA, RRTS, RSO, RTTR, RWT, RXN, SCON, SD, SEP, SFE, SFLY, SGMO, SGNL, SKBI, SKY, SMLP, SMRT, SNR, SNSS, SONS, SORL, SPRT, SSE, STRI, STV, TCON, TCP, TCS, TERP, TISI, TNXP, TTP, TTPH, TWI, UACL, UAMY, UEIC, UIS, UNTD, USLM, UUUU, VCYT, VKTX, VMI, VNCE, VRNS, VTA, WEA, WES, WIW, WPRT, WPT, WRLD, WWW, XHR, XPL, YECO, ZINC
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: UNG
Pericom Semiconductor (PSEM 18.00, +1.10): +6.5% after receiving an acquisition offer from Montage Technology Group that values PSEM at $18.50/share
7:50 am Brooks Automation approves $50 mln stock repurchase program; funded through cash on hand and cash generated from operations (BRKS) :
7:04 am Pericom Semi: Montage Technology Group has proposed to acquire PSEM for $18.50/share in cash, representing a competing bid to DIOD's prior $17.00 per share (PSEM) :
Montage Technology Group Limited announced that it proposed an offer to acquire 100% of the outstanding stock of Pericom Semiconductor Corporation at a price of $18.50 per share in cash to Pericom shareholders, in a transaction valued at approximately $430 million.
The proposal was conveyed in a binding offer letter to Pericom's Board of Directors on September 29, 2015, together with signed copies of a merger agreement and a voting agreement, each on substantially the same terms as the Diodes (DIOD) merger agreement and voting agreement, and a signed copy of an escrow agreement relating to a reverse break-up fee.
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
