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From Briefing.com: Friday attracted some sellers, but it wasn't until theafternoon session that the bid to take some money off the table kicked in.

The S&P 500 information technology sector was apacesetter in the afternoon retreat, yet that was understandable given that itwas vulnerable to profit-taking interest given how far it had advanced duringthe month. That would be 11.4% to beexact.

Accordingly, a 0.7% decline onFriday left it among the worst-performing sectors on Friday, yet it still had avery good month -- in fact, the third best month -- of any sector in the S&P500.

The semiconductor stocks, which got hit hard on Thursday,bounced back a bit on Friday and helped limit the losses. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index increased 0.9% to endthe month up 9.9%.

Notable news items from sector components included the following:

Apple(AAPL 119.50, -1.03, -0.9%): plans to begin selling iPad Pro on November 11,according to 9to5Mac

Electronic Arts (EA 752.07,-3.99, -5.3%): Reported Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.65 per share, excludingnon-recurring items, which was well ahead of expectations;non-GAAP revenues fell 6.1% year/year to $1.15 bln but surpassed analysts'average estimate. For Q3, seesEPS of $1.75, excluding non-recurring items and revenues of $1.775 bln. For FY16, raises EPS to ~$3.00,excluding non-recurring items, from $2.85, and FY16 revenues to ~$4.5 blnfrom $4.45 bln.

First Solar (FSLR 57.07, +6.08, +11.9%): Reported Q3 (Sep) earnings of $3.38 per share, blowingpast analysts' average expectation; revenues rose 42.9%year/year to $1.27 bln, also topping estimates. For FY15, sees revenues of $3.5-3.6 bln,which is unchanged from prior guidance and above analyst expectations.

Microsoft (MSFT 52.64, -0.72,-1.4%): announces the pricing of its offering of $13 billion of seniorunsecured notes. Microsoft intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, funding for working capital, capital expenditures, repurchases of capital stock, acquisitions, and repayment of existing debt. The notes consist of the following tranches: $1.75 billion of 1.300 percent notes due November 3, 2018 $2.25 billion of 2.000 percent notes due November 3, 2020 $1.00 billion of 2.650 percent notes due November 3, 2022 $3.00 billion of 3.125 percent notes due November 3, 2025 $1.00 billion of 4.200 percent notes due November 3, 2035 $3.00 billion of 4.450 percent notes due November 3, 2045 $1.00 billion of 4.750 percent notes due November 3, 2055

Seagate Tech (STX 38.06, unch,0.00%): Reported Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.54 per share, whichwas short of analysts' average expectation; revenues fell 22.7%year/year to $2.92 bln, in-line with estimates. Guidedfor Q2 revenues of $2.9-3.0 bln, which is below expectations, and non-GAAPgross margin 25.5-26.0%.

Western Union (WU 19.25, +0.24,+1.3%): Reported Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.45 per share, slightlyahead of analysts' average expectation; revenues fell 2.9%year/year to $1.4 bln. For FY15,sees EPS of $1.60-1.67, excluding non-recurring items, which is in-line withestimates. Revenue is projected to grow low to mid-single digit in constantcurrency and decrease low to mid-single digit in GAAP revenue.
Elsewhere in the technology space:

Baidu (BIDU 187.47, +18.48, +10.9%): AfterThursday's close, reported Q3 (Sep) earnings of $1.43 per share, excludingnon-recurring items, which was $0.13 ahead of analysts' averageexpectation; revenues rose 36.0% year/year to $2.89 bln. Sees Q4revenues of $2.864-2.950 bln, which is slightly below expectations. Separately, company said its board of directors authorized a new sharerepurchase program on October 22 under which the Company may repurchase up to$2 billion of its shares over the next 24 months.

Nokia (NOK 7.42, +0.10, +1.4%): NokiaNetworks and China Mobile (CHL) have announced a comprehensive frameworkagreement for mobile communications equipment and services valued at more than$1 bln (EUR930 million). Deliveriesunder the agreement commenced in Q1 2015, and will continue in 2016. Framework agreement includes NokiaNetworks 4G TD-LTE technology and wireless network equipment, core solutions,software and services.

PMC-Sierra (PMCS 11.92, +0.28,+2.4%): Company and Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS 77.24, +2.61, +3.5%) enteredinto an amended and restated merger agreement under which Skyworks has agreedto acquire PMCS for $11.60 in cash per share of PMCS common stock, an increasefrom its previous agreement to acquire PMCS for $10.50 in cash per share ofPMCS common stock. The amended and restated merger agreement alsoprovides for an increase in the termination fee from $70.0 mln to $88.5 mln.Thetransaction is expected to close in the first half of calendar 2016, subject toPMCS shareholder approval. Later in theday Microsemi (MSCC 36.01,-0.77, -2.1%) announcedthat it has increased its proposal to acquire PMC-Sierra in a cash andstock transaction that equates to $11.88 per share. Under the terms ofMicrosemi's proposal, PMC shareholders will receive $9.04 in cash and 0.0771xof a Microsemi common share for each PMC common share held at the close of thetransaction.

Analyst Action:

Alibaba (BABA 83.83,+1.61, +2.0%): MKM Partners raises its target to $105 from $85

Electronic Arts (EA72.07, -3.99, -5.3%): MKM Partners raises its target to $84 from $82

LinkedIn(LNKD 240.87, +23.87, +11.0%): targetraised to $285 from $230 at Axiom Capital... target raised to $189 from$180 at FBR Capital... upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee CRT... Stifel raises tgt to $270 from $250... Mizuhoraises tgt to $285 from $240... target raised $25 to $275 at CanaccordGenuity MasterCard(MA 98.99, -1.60, -1.6%): target raised to $114 from $108 at RBC Capital Markets

NVIDIA(NVDA 28.37, +0.69, +2.5%): upgraded to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley

Weekly Recap - Week ending 30-Oct-15Dow -92.26 at 17663.54, Nasdaq -20.53 at 5053.75, S&P -10.05 at 2079.36

The stock market ended the week on a lower note, but that did not stop the S&P 500 from posting its largest monthly gain since October 2011. The benchmark index lost 0.5% on Friday, but surged 8.3% for the month while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%) outperformed, spiking 9.4% in October.

Broadly speaking, the Friday session was very quiet with the market showing a modest loss during morning action, which turned into a slim afternoon gain; however, a late slide from session highs ensured a lower finish for the S&P 500.

Despite the lower finish, only five of ten sectors posted losses, but relative weakness in heavily-weighted groups like financials (-1.3%), technology (-0.8%), and consumer staples (-1.1%) was enough to keep the market pressured.

The financial sector retreated throughout the day, narrowing its October gain to 6.1%. Meanwhile, the top-weighted technology space (-0.8%) also underperformed, but the influential sector surged 10.7% in October. Large cap names like Apple (AAPL 119.50, -1.03), Google (GOOGL 737.39, -7.46), and Microsoft (MSFT 52.64, -0.72) struggled on Friday, masking relative strength in the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which rose 0.9%. ON Semiconductor (ON 11.00, +0.72) was a notable standout, soaring 7.0%, in reaction to better than expected results.

Elsewhere, the consumer staples sector (-1.1%) retreated amid disappointing earnings and/or guidance from Colgate-Palmolive (CL 66.35, -2.88), CVS Health (CVS 98.78, -5.02), and Boston Beer (SAM 219.42, -25.52). The three names lost between 4.2% and 10.4% while the broader sector narrowed its October gain to 5.6%.

On the flip side, the energy sector (+0.7%) finished in the lead after struggling at the start. However, the sector climbed during the afternoon to extend its October gain to 11.3%. Crude oil contributed to the afternoon rally as WTI crude rose 1.2% to $46.60/bbl while earnings also played a part. To that point, Chevron (CVX 90.88, +0.99), ExxonMobil (XOM 82.74, +0.51), and Phillips 66 (PSX 89.10, +2.67) all delivered better than expected results.

Unlike stocks, Treasuries spent the bulk of the day in the green with the 10-yr yield slipping three basis points to 2.15%.

Today's participation was ahead of average with more than a billion shares changing hands at the NYSE floor with month-end flows contributing to the increased activity.

Economic data included Employment Cost Index, Personal Income/Spending data, Chicago PMI, and Michigan Sentiment:

Employment costs increased 0.6% in Q3 2015, up from a 0.2% increase in the second quarter while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.5%
Despite the big quarterly gain, year-over-year trends were unchanged with total compensation increasing only 2.0% in the third quarter, which matched the rate of increase from the second quarter
Personal income increased 0.1% in September after increasing an upwardly revised 0.4% (from 0.3%) in August while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.2%
Personal spending rose 0.1% in September after increasing 0.4% in August while the consensus expected an increase of 0.2%
The Chicago PMI increased to 56.2 in October from 48.7 in September while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 49.0
That was the best reading in the Chicago PMI since reaching 59.4 in January
The Production Index increased to 63.4 in October from 43.6 in September, representing the largest one-month gain since August 2014
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was revised down to 90.0 in the final October reading from 92.1 in the preliminary report while the Briefing.com consensus expected a revision up to 92.6
Despite the downward revision, sentiment remains stronger than the final September (87.2) level
The Current Conditions Index was revised down to 102.3 in the final October reading from 106.7 while the Expectations Index was revised down to 82.1 from 82.7

Monday's economic data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of September Construction Spending and the October ISM Index.

Week in Review: Stocks Register Fifth Consecutive Weekly Gain

The stock market began the 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.

The market endured its second consecutive retreat on Tuesday, but the overall trading dynamic was very similar to the range-bound affair from Monday. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) outperformed throughout the session. In some ways, the cautious posture was not all that shocking considering investors were on hold ahead of Wednesday's release of the October FOMC policy directive from the FOMC. Nine sectors ended the Tuesday affair in negative territory with cyclical groups showing relative weakness across the board. The energy sector (-1.2%) spent its second consecutive day behind the remaining nine groups as lower oil prices weighed. To that point, WTI crude fell 1.8% to $43.22/bbl. Similar to energy, the industrial sector (-1.0%) surrendered close to 1.0% while the remaining cyclical sectors posted slimmer losses.

Equity indices snapped their two-day skid on Wednesday, but not before seeing some intraday volatility. The S&P 500 added 1.2% while the Russell 2000 (+2.9%) outperformed. The key indices rallied out of the gate in response to a batch of mostly better than expected earnings. That lengthy list was headlined by Apple (AAPL 119.28, +4.73) with the top-weighted stock spiking 4.1% in reaction to better than expected earnings and revenue. For its part, the broader technology sector (+1.5%) settled ahead of the broader market while most other cyclical sectors also showed relative strength. None more so than the energy space (+2.2%), which spent the day in the lead after struggling over the past two days. After rallying through the first two hours of the session, the market hovered near its high until the 14:00 ET release of the latest policy statement from the Federal Reserve, which called for no change to the current policy stance. That being said, the Federal Reserve took out a key line from its statement, which referred to global developments having the potential to restrain economic growth in the U.S. With that line being left out of the October statement, the Fed has opened the door to a potential rate hike in December.

The stock market spun its wheels through the bulk of the Thursday affair, but a final-hour charge helped the S&P 500 end little changed while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%) underperformed throughout the session. Equities followed Wednesday's roller-coaster ride with a range-bound Thursday session that saw weakness in heavily-weighted cyclical sectors while health care (+0.5%) surrendered the bulk of its gain into the close; however, the market maintained its range through the afternoon as technology (-0.3%) cut its opening loss in half while energy (+0.5%) and consumer discretionary (+0.3%) outperformed. Most notably, the technology sector struggled from the start and the bulk of its weakness could be found in the semiconductor group where NXP Semiconductor (NXPI 73.00, -17.92) plunged 19.7% after below-consensus revenue and concerns about the company's inventories overshadowed a bottom-line beat and an expanded share buyback. Also of note, STMicroelectronics (STM 6.79, -0.42) fell 5.8% after issuing disappointing guidance and denying interest in Fairchild Semiconductor (FCS 16.56, -0.99).

Index Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD %
DJIA 17646.70 17663.54 16.84 0.1 -0.9
Nasdaq 5031.86 5053.75 21.89 0.4 6.7
S&P 500 2075.15 2079.36 4.21 0.2 1.0
Russell 2000 1166.06 1161.86 -4.20 -0.4 -3.6


3:32 pm Earnings Preview for the week of November 2 - 6 (:SUMRX) :

Of the companies reporting earnings for the week of November 2 - 6 some of the bigger names include:

Monday:
Pre Market - CAH, SYY, HNT, V, ECL, ETR, D, EL, CNA, CLX, KBR, NBL, CHD, GVA, CTB, MCY, NSP, DO
After Hours - AIG, ALL, CYH, THC, CAR, ES, SANM, ALJ, MDU, PXD, CBT, GPRE, AMC, VNO, FIT

Tuesday:
Pre Market - EMR, ODP, K, SRE, TRP, WNR, MOS, HRS, EXPD, NGLS, FIS, DISCA, FTR, MHFI, NCLH, ZTS, WLK, MLM, AFSI, H, AXLL, BLMN, VMC, NI, SMG
After Hours - PAGP, PAA, DVN, DVA, CBS, OKE, X, OKS, TX, DK, CVC, ASH, AFG, TSLA, QUAD, CERN, HLF, MTZ, ATVI, DPLO, TMH, WR, GRPN, AMSG, ZNGA

Wednesday:
Pre Market - TWX, FOXA, NRG, AGN, CDW, WCG, CTSH, BDX, CHK, CST, HSIC, VOYA, WEC, AVP, KELYA, MSI, SE, KORS, REGN, CLH, TW, HSNI, TMHC, WEN, VSI, SSYS, SODA, BSFT, CRK
After Hours - MET, ETE, PRU, ETP, QCOM, CTL, FB, SLF, SUN, WRK, MUSA, WFM, SXL, CSC, XPO, KND, CAA, TS, RIG, DYN, MRO, BKD, TSE, BGC, ALB, ANDE, UHAL, AWK, CF, GDDY

Thursday:
Pre Market - ENB, MGA, DUK, AZN, AES, BCE, HFC, TU, GLP, CORE, CNQ, AGU, RRD, CELG, CNP, RL, PWR, HII, RLGY, APA, SYMC, CC, WIN, CSTM, COTY, WR, TAP, MPEL, SFM, THS, TIME, ENDP, CROX
After Hours - DIS, KHC, ED, CBI, EOG, MHK, BLDR, NVDA, LNT, MRC, SWKS, GXP, MNST, HAIN

Friday:
Pre Market - MY, HUM, CI, BAM, AEE, SATS, TPH, PMC, HZNP, SSP
After Hours - KRO

12:33 pm PMC-Sierra: Microsemi (MSCC) increases its bid to acquire PMC-Sierra to $11.88/share in cash and stock (PMCS) :

Microsemi (MSCC) announced that it has increased its proposal to acquire PMC-Sierra in a cash and stock transaction. Under the terms of Microsemi's proposal, PMC shareholders will receive $9.04 in cash and 0.0771x of a Microsemi common share for each PMC common share held at the close of the transaction.

The implied enterprise value is $2.3 billion, net of PMC's net cash balance as of Sept. 27, 2015. Based on the closing stock price of Microsemi on Oct. 29, 2015, the transaction is valued at $11.88 per PMC share. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Microsemi's non-GAAP EPS and free cash flow. Microsemi anticipates achieving more than $100 million in annual cost synergies with greater than $75 million of those to be realized in the first full quarter of combined operations. Microsemi estimates approximately $0.60 of non-GAAP EPS accretion in the first full year after closing the transaction.The raised bid follows this morning's news that Skyworks (SWKS) had raised its bid to acquire PMCS to $11.60/share in cash from $10.50/share in cash. Last week, Microsemi proposed to acquire PMC-Sierra for $11.50/share.

11:39 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (105) outpacing new highs (91) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAME, ABTX, AIZ, AMRB, AMZN, AOS, ATO, ATR, AYI, AZO, BKU, BNK, BOCH, BR, BUSE, BZC, CACI, CCF, CORE, COST, CSH, CVCO, DGII, EDUC, EME, EXPE, FCB, FIS, FIX, FLO, FMS, FSB, FXCB, G, GSB, GWB, HPY, HRB, HSIC, IM, JAXB, JKHY, KFY, LANC, LDOS, LII, LYV, MAA, MDWD, MEET, MENT, MLVF, NHTC, NP, NUTR, ONFC, OSIS, PCLN, PFSW, PMCS, POOL, PRA, PRMW, PSX, QCRH, QLC, RLI, ROP, RSG, SAP, SBUX, SHEN, SIG, SMP, SSD, SSS, STE, SXI, TGS, TI, TI.A, TTWO, UBOH, USCR, USM, UVE, VSCP, WCN, WNS, WSFS, XIN

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AAN, ABUS, ACSF, ACTG, ADTN, AGTC, AHGP, ARNA, ATOS, BBOX, BCBP, BCOR, BLCM, BLMN, BNSO, BNTC, BOOM, BRFS, BTU, CALX, CBAY, CENX, CLRX, CMLS, CMO, CNX, COSI, CPSI, CSTM, CTRL, DAR, DEST, DGI, DIN, DV, EAT, ECOL, ELGX, ENPH, ENSV, ENZN, EROS, FEYE, FREE, FRGI, GKOS, GLF, GNRT, GTLS, GYRO, HBIO, HNH, HOS, IPI, JASN, KONA, LIQD, LOB, LRN, MCUR, MOD, MOKO, MSB, NEPT, NFEC, NM, NRP, OCIP, OEC, OMCL, ONCY, OPGN, OPTT, PDFS, PEBO, PFBX, PLXS, PSTI, RAS, RFP, ROG, RPRX, RTIX, RUN, SBLK, SCTY, SIEB, SJT, SMSI, SQQQ, SWN, SXCP, TANH, TBIO, TDW, THR, TINY, TLN, TMST, USAP, UUUU, WAC, WDC, WING, ZFGN

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: FDN, XLY

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: UNG


8:32 am Interdigital Comm beats by $0.41, beats on revs (IDCC) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.68 per share, $0.41 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 29.4% year/year to $100.4 mln vs the $79.05 mln two analyst estimate.Recurring revenue was $78.6 million, consisting of current patent royalties and current technology solutions revenue, representing an increase of 7% compared to recurring revenue of $73.2 million in third quarter 2014. This increase in recurring revenue was primarily attributable to a 16% increase in per-unit royalties, driven by increased shipments by Pegatron Corporation and our other Taiwan-based licensees. "The ongoing market strength of our licensees continues to drive recurring revenue growth, even as we work to expand our licensee base," said William J. Merritt, President and CEO of InterDigital. "That growth, coupled with our careful expense management, highlights the tremendous operating leverage of our business, which positions us very strongly as revenues expand.

"8:03 am Seagate Tech misses by $0.03, reports revs in-line with preannouncement (STX) :

Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.03 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.57; revenues fell 22.7% year/year to $2.92 bln vs the $2.92 bln Capital IQ Consensus."While lower than planned nearline enterprise demand temporarily impacted our financial results, we are pleased with the momentum we have across our products, which will be further supported by the newly acquired assets of Dot Hill and our ability to now completely integrate the Samsung hard drive business. As we look forward, we are focused on delivering storage solutions for a significant range of existing, growing and emerging areas, and believe we have the right strategy and portfolio to deliver value to shareholders."

6:50 am Nokia and China Mobile (CHL) agree to to a $1 bln contract for mobile communications equipment and services (NOK) :

Nokia Networks and China Mobile (CHL) have announced a comprehensive framework agreement for mobile communications equipment and services valued at more than $1 bln (EUR930 million).

Deliveries under the agreement commenced in Q1 2015, and will continue in 2016Framework agreement includes Nokia Networks 4G TD-LTE technology and wireless network equipment, core solutions, software and services

4:09 am UTStarcom expects Q3 revs ahead of prior guidance (UTSI) : The co announced that it expects Q3 revs of $25-27 mln vs $20.22 mln two analyst estimate and prior guidance for $18-22 mln. The company will host a conference call to discuss the Company's financial results for the third quarter 2015 before U.S. markets open on Monday, November 9, 2015.