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From Briefing.com: The markets ended Monday split, as the Nasdaq Composite was the only index which managed to stay out of the red. The Nasdaq ended higher on the session by 2.84 points (+0.06%) to 5034.70. The S&P 500 posted losses of 3.97 points (-0.19%) to 2071.18. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended below flat lines, down 23.65 points (-0.13%) to 17623.05. Market data today came in the form of New Home Sales, which for September hit an annualized rate of 468,000, down from the revised August rate of 529,000 (from 552,000).

The Technology (XLK) sector posted notable losses as the sector did not manage to climb out of the red for the entire session. Names which held the sector down were STX -3.89%, MU -3.83%, HPQ -3.31%, ADI -3.29%, AAPL -3.25%, WDC -3.14%, BRCM -3.14%, WIN -3.06%. Other sectors finished as follows: XLY +0.70%, XLV +0.39%, XLP -0.20%, XLI -0.22%, XLU -0.36%, XLK -0.39%, XLF -0.41%, IYZ -0.43%, XLB -0.82%, with Energy lagging XLE -2.45%.

Semiconductors (SOX 670.19, -13.52 -1.98%) as a whole were weak today, as ATML -10.90%, QRVO -9.20%, SWKS -5.62%, NXPI -4.87%, AVGO -4.61%, ON -4.27% led the way lower on no particular news. A number of semi names report quarterly results this week, though, with Broadcom (BRCM 51.46, -1.67 -3.14%) leading the way tonight. BRCM is set to be acquired by Avago Tech (AVGO 123.61, -5.97 -4.61%) for $37 billion. Of note, some semi names may have seen pressure today as Apple (AAPL 115.28, -3.80 -3.19%) supplier Dialog Semi (DLGNF 36.50, -8.08 -18.12%) reported quarterly results.

Some notable strength today came in the form of the Social Media (SOCL 19.20, +0.18 +0.95%) sector, which posted modest gains in the face of a split broader market. Component Changyou.com (CYOU 20.83, +2.89 +16.11%) posted a top and bottom line beat for Q3, taking the sector higher. Blue chip names also saw strength in the sector, as YELP +8.29%, ANGI +6.77%, YNDX +6.28%, P +5.17%, WB +2.22%, TWTR +2.01%, GOOGL +1.64% all ended the session above flat lines.

For its part, the S&P 500 Information Technology (735.42, -2.36 -0.32%) sector spent the entirety of the session in the red. Names which held the sector down today included QCOM -2.49%, JNPR -1.94%, GLW -1.59%, LLTC -1.48%, CSCO -1.36%, HRS -1.29%, MCHP -1.22%, SNDK -1.21%, EA -1.12%, INTC -0.89%, FLIR -0.76%, IBM -0.71%, as semis again pressured trading action.

Other notable news items among sector components:

The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) plans to switch accounts to Visa (V 78.18, +1.11 +1.44%) from Mastercard (MA 99.63, -0.16 -0.16%).

Oracle (ORCL 38.37, +0.30 +0.79%) introduced its Exa Your Power Program to help customers migrate Oracle Database from IBM Power systems to Oracle Engineered Systems using Intel technology.

Microsoft (MSFT 54.25, +1.38 +2.61%) opened the doors to its first flagship store in the heart of Manhattan at Fifth Ave. and 53rd St. The five-floor, 22,369 square-foot store features an assortment of products and in-store services familiar at the company's more than 110 retail locations, while offering new interactive experiences to customers

Yahoo (YHOO 33.38, +0.21 +0.64%) announced that Bob Lord will join as the Company's Chief Information Security Officer. Lord was most recently the CISO-in-Residence at Rapid 7.YHOO also announced that it saw 33.6 million streams of Sunday's NFL game over 15.2 million unique viewers. Corning Incorporated (GLW 17.32, -0.28 -1.59%) announced that Samsung (SSNLF 1050, flat) has chosen Corning Lotus NXT Glass for its line of low- temp. polysilicon, organic light-emitting diode panels.

TASER (TASR 23.56, +1.20 +5.37%) announced a partnership agreement with Microsoft (MSFT 54.25, +1.38 +2.61%) to bring together the combined capabilities of the Microsoft Azure's cloud platform, and Windows 10 devices with TASER's Axon Platform and Evidence.com solution.

Elsewhere in the technology space:

Pericom Semi's (PSEM 17.35, -0.49 -2.75%) Board unanimously rejected the unsolicited revised offer from Montage Technology Group. The company reaffirmed the recommendation in support of the transaction with Diodes (DIOD 22.79, -0.89 -3.76%).

Oi SA (OIBR 0.55, 9, +0.04 +8.91%) received a proposal from Letter One to enter into exclusive negotiations with respect to a potential transaction with the objective of a possible consolidation of the Brazilian telecommunications sector.

Ctrip.com (CTRP 90.78, +16.44 +22.11%) announced that it has completed a share exchange transaction with Baidu (BIDU 166.24, +8.64 +5.48%), and as a result of the transaction, Baidu will own ordinary shares of Ctrip representing about 25% of Ctrip's aggregate voting interest, and Ctrip will own ordinary shares of

Qunar (QUNR 42.65, +3.13 +7.92%) representing about 45% of Qunar's aggregate voting interest.

Digi Intl (DGII 12.07, -10.33 -2.66%) announced the sale of Etherios for $9 million in cash payable ($4 million at closing, $3 million on the first anniversary of closing and $2 million on the second anniversary of closing) to West Monroe Partners.

TASER International (TASR) announced its disruptive entry into the in-car video market with Axon Fleet. Axon Fleet will be available for pre-orders starting this week and available for shipment in Q1 2016.

Agilent Technologies (A 36.83, -0.28 -0.75%) introduced the Agilent 5977B High Efficiency Source GC/MSD System, a tandem gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer that delivers lower limits of detection than any other instrument in its class.

Comtech Telecom (CMTL 23.75, -0.51 -2.10%) was awarded a $3.2 million contract from a US military integrator for the supply of traveling wave tube amplifiers.

TiVo Research, a subsidiary of TiVo (TIVO 9.23, -0.09 -0.97%) confirmed that it will be giving away basic TV ratings data for free for anyone starting in the first quarter of 2016

Solaria announced that SunEdison (SUNE 7.79, +0.02 +0.26%) has agreed to license Solaria's manufacturing technology to cost effectively mass produce its new line of UH efficiency 400 watt solar modules

xG Technology (XGTI 0.76, +0.19 +34.21%) received an order from Department of Defense agency for xMax mobile broadband wireless equipment and services. The order was received following field evaluations conducted at a Technical Experimentation Event that took place at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Indiana

CEVA (CEVA 23.50, -0.23 -0.97%) announced that Vatics, a multimedia SoC solutions provider in Taiwan, has licensed the CEVA imaging and vision DSP for its next-generation SoCs targeting surveillance and smart network cameras.

Diebold (DBD 37.47, +0.61 +1.65%) divested its North American electronic security business to Securitas with a purchase price of $350 million.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Changyou.com (CYOU) reported Q3 EPS and revenues which beat expectations. The company saw EPS of $1.3 on revenues which rose 4.3% YoY to $188.9 million. The company also guided Q4 EPS and revenues worse than expected with EPS in the range of $0.56-0.65 per share and $145-155 million.

Sohu.com (SOHU 48.50, +3.15 +6.95%) reported Q3 EPS of $1.27 on revenues which beat expectations at $522.1 million and grew 21.3% YoY. The company also guided Q4 EPS of ($0.65)-($0.40) on revenues of $435-465 million.

Xerox (XRX 10.03, -0.31 -3.00%) reported Q3 EPS which beat expectations at $0.24 on revenues which missed expectations and fell 7.2% YoY to $4.45 billion. XRX also guided Q4 EPS in-line with anticipations at $0.28-0.30. In addition, the Board of Directors authorized a review of the company's business portfolio and capital allocation options, with the goal of enhancing shareholder value.

Silicom Limited (SILC 32.48, -1.04 -3.10%) reported Q3 EPS and revenues which beat expectations. EPS came in at $0.57 on revenues which rose 22.3% YoY to $19.41 million.

Check Point Software (CHKP 80.98, +0.55 +0.68%) reported Q3 EPS was better than expected on revenues which were in-line. EPS was $1.04 on revenues which rose 9.0% YoY to $403.9 million.

Companies scheduled to report tonight after the bell/tomorrow before the open: TWOU, AMKR, BRCM, CDNS, CTS, IDTI, KN, MSTR, MPWR, PMCS/AIXG, AXE, AVX, CVLT, GLW, CTG, GRUB, IPGP, LXK, TMUS, YNDX

Analyst actions:

AMAT was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nomura,
CVLT was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray;
HPY was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird,
KLAC was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura,
PGI was downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Raymond James,
INGIY was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill

4:14 pm PMC-Sierra beats by $0.02, beats on revs -- co being acquired by Skyworks (SWKS) (PMCS) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.11; revenues fell 1.4% year/year to $133.6 mln vs the $130.84 mln Capital IQ Consensus.Q3 Storage product revenues reached a quarterly record of $97.6 mln, or 73% of revenues.

4:13 pm Integrated Device to acquire ZMDI for $310 mln; transaction will add $20 mln of quarterly revenues and be accretive to earnings in first full quarter following close (IDTI) : Co announced an agreement to acquire privately held ZMDI (Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG) for total consideration of $310M in cash. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the board of directors of both companies, with closing expected before calendar end. The transaction adds $20 mln of quarterly revenues to IDT at 57% gross margins and will be accretive to earnings in first full quarter following close

4:13 pm Amkor beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (AMKR) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.12 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.04; revenues fell 9.7% year/year to $734 mln vs the $725.02 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of ($0.02)-$0.05 vs. $0.08 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $660-710 mln vs. $740.84 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"In response to the generally soft end market demand for electronic devices, we expect customers to cautiously manage inventories through the fourth quarter of 2015," said Kelley.
"We are tightly controlling capital expenditures and working capital in line with the demand environment. Accordingly, we are reducing our estimate of full year 2015 capital expenditures from around $550 million to around $525 million, including around $150 million of spending for our new K5 facility."

4:13 pm Giga-tronics reports Q2 prelim revenue of $2.9-3.1 mln compared to quarterly net sales ranging from $4.3-5.1 mln over the past four quarters (GIGA) :

Net loss for the second quarter is expected to be between $1.0 mln to $1.4 mln. These preliminary, unaudited financial results are based on management's initial review of operations for the quarter ended September 26, 2015, and remain subject to change based on management's ongoing review of the second quarter results.
In Q2, co experienced delays in shipments due to late arriving materials from its suppliers and technical issues associated with the new Advanced Signal Generator.
Many of the delayed Q2 shipments have been delivered to customers this month, including multiple units of the Advanced Signal Generator.Co's Q2 ending backlog remained substantial at $15.8 mln, of which $6.5 mln is shippable within a year.

4:11 pm Broadcom beats by $0.04, beats on revs -- being acquired by Avago (AVGO) (BRCM) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.77 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.73; revenues fell 3.2% year/year to $2.19 bln vs the $2.14 bln Capital IQ Consensus. In light of Broadcom's pending transaction with Avago (AVGO), Broadcom has discontinued conducting conference calls with analysts and investors to discuss its financial results.

4:08 pm Integrated Device beats by $0.04, beats on revs (IDTI) :

Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.35 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 23.6% year/year to $169.5 mln vs the $166.12 mln Capital IQ Consensus.Revenue growth was driven by a strong rebound in sales of our communications products, continued market leadership in memory interface, as well as solid contributions from our wireless charging business

4:07 pm Cadence Design beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs slighly below consensus; guides FY15 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (CDNS) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 8.5% year/year to $434 mln vs the $429.31 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.28-0.30 vs. $0.28 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $434-444 mln vs. $446.68 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co issues guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $1.06-1.08 vs. $1.04 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY15 revs of $1.695-1.705 bln vs. $1.7 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:03 pm Monolithic Power beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs in-line (MPWR) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.55 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.54; revenues rose 16.5% year/year to $91.2 mln vs the $90.8 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Non-GAAP gross margin was 55.1%, compared with 54.9% in the third quarter of 2014. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $84-88 mln vs. $85.48 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.Sees Non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses between $25.0-26.0 mln. This excludes an estimate of stock-based compensation expenses in the range of $9.2 million to $10.2 million.

3:57 pm Pericom Semi: Montage Technology Group responds to PSEM's rejection of its proposed acquisition, reiterates commitment to its $18.50/share cash offer (PSEM) :

Highlights of Montage's response:

"We are disappointed, and frankly quite surprised, that the Pericom Board of Directors would reject our superior $18.50 per share all cash offer and deny their shareholders the value of our offer. Montage's offer of $18.50 per share in cash represents a highly attractive premium of approximately 52% to the unaffected closing price on September 2, 2015, and a premium of approximately 9% to Diodes Incorporated ("Diodes") offer, which we believe Pericom's Board is irrationally defending.... In light of the apparent intransigence of the Pericom Board, Montage will solicit votes against the Diodes transaction so that Pericom shareholders can decide for themselves whether they would prefer to receive the significantly higher value offered by Montage. Montage will begin to mail its definitive proxy materials shortly to Pericom shareholders."Large Cap Losers

SWKS (77.99 -5.52%): Semiconductors underperforming after Dialog Semi (DLGNF) reported its Q3 sales which landed near the low end of its previous guidance range and fell short of analyst estimates, guided for Q3 revs below expectations (NXPI, AVGO, BRCM, FSL, MU, ADI also lower).

12:17 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (129) outpacing new lows (95) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAME, ABCB, ACN, ADBE, ADP, AGII, AMSWA, AMWD, ATNI, AZO, BBCN, BLKB, BNCL, BSQR, CACB, CALL, CB, CBNJ, CBZ, CCU, CEVA, CHDN, CINF, CNBKA, CNO, CONE, CORE, CTAS, CTRP, CTXS, DRAD, EBF, EDGW, EDN, EFSC, ENVI, EVC, EXLS, EXPD, FB, FBIZ, FBNC, FISV, FLO, FONR, FRC, FSBW, GABC, GAME, GGAL, GIG, GSBC, HBNC, HCKT, HCSG, HOMB, HRB, HSIC, HTBI, ICE, IGLD, IPG, JAXB, JBT, JKHY, JNPR, KEP, KRNY, LMT, MANH, MATW, MCD, MEET, METR, MLHR, MO, MTN, MTS, NBBC, NBHC, NKSH, NWBI, ORLY, OZRK, PAM, PAYX, PBY, PCBK, PCLN, PNY, POOL, PSA, PSCU, QTS, RAI, RCL, ROP, SBUX, SHBI, SIFI, SIGI, SIRI, SIRO, SKYW, SSS, STL, STRS, SVBI, TBNK, TFSL, TOWN, TRV, TSS, TTC, TTWO, UFCS, ULTI, V, VIRT, VNTV, VVI, WAFD, WAL, WGL, WNS, WSFS, WSO, XRAY, XUE

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AIMT, AMS, ATLS, ATOS, AVH, BDR, BKD, BOOT, CAB, CBYL, CRDC, CRR, CSTM, CUR, DECK, DK, DOM, ENZN, ERA, ESMC, FCFS, FDEU, FMSA, FOSL, FREE, FRGI, GLRE, GNK, GNMK, GNVC, GOGL, HBI, HBIO, HEB, IFON, JMP, JWN, KIQ, KODK, LPSN, M, MCEP, MHR, MPLX, MWE, NC, NETE, NGL, NM, NNBR, NRG, NRP, NSPR, NTG, OLLI, ORIG, ORN, OSTK, OZM, PSG, PSUN, PTCT, PULM, PXLW, QDEL, RCKY, REDF, REE, RGNX, RICE, RKDA, RLOC, ROYT, RPRX, RRC, SAVE, SCON, SDPI, SIEN, SVU, SXC, SYRX, TLN, TOR, TST, TWER, UNIS, UPL, USAP, USG, VCEL, VOXX, WDC, WLB, WMT

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: FDN

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: UNG

8:37 am EZchip mails letter to shareholders, reiterates its support for the merger proposal with Mellanox Tech (MLNX), says Raging Capital's interests are not aligned with other EZChip shareholders (EZCH) : Since the public announcement of the merger agreement on September 30, 2015, the Board has not been approached by any other potential buyer.

8:30 am Pericom Semi's Board unanimously rejects the unsolicited revised offer from Montage Technology Group; reaffirms recommendation in support of transaction with Diodes (DIOD) (PSEM) :

Co's Board of Directors, after continued consultation with its independent financial advisors and outside legal counsel, has unanimously rejected the unsolicited revised acquisition offer that Pericom received from Montage Technology Group Limited.

Consistent with its fiduciary duties to the Company's shareholders, the Board determined that Montage's revised offer is inferior to the transactions contemplated by Pericom's previously announced Merger Agreement with Diodes Incorporated (DIOD) and that Montage's revised offer is not in the best interests of Pericom's shareholders. The Board cited Financing and Regulatory and Timing risk as factors in its decision


4:05 pm : The stock market began the trading week on a quiet note with the S&P 500 (-0.2%) spending the session inside a nine-point range. The benchmark index settled right above the midpoint of that range while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) outperformed throughout the session.

Generally speaking, the Monday affair was very quiet and free of noteworthy earnings. Accordingly, the benchmark index opened with a two-point loss and traded in sideways fashion until the closing bell. Seven sectors registered losses between 0.2% (consumer staples and industrials) and 2.5% (energy) while consumer discretionary (+0.8%), health care (+0.5%), and telecom services (+0.1%) outperformed.

Notably, the energy sector fell to the bottom of the leaderboard at the start and remained there throughout the day. The daylong retreat caused the sector to narrow its October gain to 9.0% while crude oil fell 1.4% to $43.98/bbl.

Elsewhere among cyclical groups, heavily-weighted financials (-0.3%) and technology (-0.3%) underperformed while the consumer discretionary sector (+0.8%) displayed relative strength thanks to a rebound in retail names. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 45.23, +0.24) added 0.5%.

On the downside, the technology sector kept the market under pressure after spiking more than 3.0% on Friday. Chipmakers paced today's pullback with the PHLX Semiconductor Index sliding 2.0%.

That being said, the Nasdaq was able to overcome the weakness in technology thanks to relative strength in biotech. To that point, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 317.01, +0.73) advanced 0.2% while the health care sector added 0.5%.

Unlike stocks, Treasuries inched higher throughout the session with the 10-yr yield slipping three basis points to 2.06%.

Unsurprisingly, today's participation was below average with fewer than 850 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Today's economic data was limited to the New Home Sales report for September, which hit an annualized rate of 468,000. This was down from the revised August rate of 529,000 (from 552,000), and worse than the rate of 550,000 that had been broadly expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The September report was a bit surprising, considering the latest homebuilder surveys have shown strong improvement in current and expected sales growth. The September drop in sales brought inventories back into alignment with sales trends.

Tomorrow, the September Durable Goods (Briefing.com consensus -1.3%) report will be released at 8:30 ET, August Case-Shiller 20-city Index (expected 0.2%) will be released at 9:00 ET, and October Consumer Confidence (expected 102.5) will be reported at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +6.3% YTD
S&P 500 +0.6% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -1.1% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.8% YTD

DJ30 -23.98 NASDAQ +2.84 SP500 -3.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1093/1.60 bln/1785 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1158/811.5 mln/1906

3:40 pm :

Energy futures were weak today led by natural gas futures which tanked
Nov natural gas futures dropped a sharp 9.6% today, ending at $2.06/MMBtu
Ample supply and near-term weather forecasts continue to pressure prices
Dec WTI crude oil dropped 1.3% today to end at $44.03/barrel. In electronic trade, crude is back below $44/barrel
Metals, however, closed out the day with some gains
Dec gold rose +0.3% today to $1166.10/oz, while Dec silver climbed +0.6% at $15.91/oz

8:22 am Silicom Limited beats by $0.13, beats on revs (SILC) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.57 per share, $0.13 better than the single analyst estimate of $0.44; revenues rose 22.3% year/year to $19.41 mln vs the $18.5 mln single analyst estimate.

8:05 am Canadian Solar follow-up; co raises guidance to reflect higher than expected solar demand (CSIQ) :

Co issues upside guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $805-815 vs. $610.54 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, up from previous guidance for $570-620 mln. For the third quarter of 2015, Canadian Solar now expects its total solar module shipments to be in the range of approximately 1.18 GW to 1.23 GW, compared to its previous guidance, which was in the range of 970 MW to 1.02 GW.Gross margin for the third quarter of 2015 is expected to be at or slightly above the high end of previous guidance, which was in the range of 12% to 14%.Updated guidance reflects higher than expected solar demand in the quarter and the sale of 51% of the 200 MW Tranquillity solar power project in California by the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, to Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (SO).