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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Stocks traded in an extremely volatile manner on Wednesday as investors digested a coordinated global interest rate cut, economic concerns and turmoil in the financial markets.

The S&P 500 settled with a loss of 1.1% after a surge in selling interest in the final half-hour of trade sank stocks from a 2% gain. The S&P 500 traded as high as 2.5% and down as much as 2.5%. Eight of the ten economic sectors posted a loss in heavy trading volume.

The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Swiss National Bank, Bank of Canada, and Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden) made an emergency intermeeting coordinated 50 basis point rate cut. Increased economic risks and moderating inflation pressures warranted the move in an effort to improve liquidity and reduce strains in the financial market, the Fed said. The fed funds rate is now at 1.50%, and the discount rate is at 1.75%.

The move to cut interest rates came as global equities tumbled due to tight credit markets and economic worries. Japan's Nikkei plummeted 9.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 8.2%. Europe fell 6.0% as its financial institutions remain troubled -- Britain announced a plan to bailout its banking system, which included a pledge for $87 billion in direct support for eight major banks, according to reports.

In corporate news, Bank of America (BAC 21.97, -1.80) fell 7.6% after its $10 billion common stock offering was priced at a 7.5% discount to yesterday's closing level and a 31.7% discount to BofA's closing level on Monday. BofA plunged more than 25% on Tuesday after announcing disappointing third quarter earnings, giving a dour outlook, cutting its dividend by 50% and announcing the $10 billion common stock offering.

The financial sector (-3.0%) ended the session as a laggard after giving up a 3.9% gain in late-session selling pressure as investors were aware that the SEC short-selling ban is scheduled to expire at midnight tonight.

Dow component Alcoa (AA 14.60, -2.11) marked the start of the third quarter earnings season on a negative note after the aluminum maker's results fell well short of expectations. Third quarter earnings per share dropped 40% year-over-year due to falling aluminum prices, softening demand and higher costs.

Despite the weakness in Alcoa, the material sector outperformed with a gain of 2.6%. Agriculture chemical company Monsanto (MON 81.63, +7.45) pleased investors with its quarterly earnings report.

Several retailers reported a decline in September same-store sales and cut their third quarter earnings outlook. Wal-Mart (WMT 54.57, -0.27) and Costco (COST 56.89, -0.91) both posted solid growth, however, benefiting from bargain-hunting consumers.

In commodity trading, oil prices saw large swings, moving largely in tandem with stocks, as traders speculated how the global economic turmoil will impact demand. The government's weekly energy inventory data showed larger-than-expected increases in crude and gasoline stockpiles. Oil prices fell 1.6% to $88.64 per barrel.

Despite the economic turmoil and uncertainty, Treasuries came under selling pressure after the government sold additional debt to meet high investor demand, according to reports. The 10-year note dropped 46 ticks to send its yield up to 3.67%.

The S&P 500 has posted six consecutive losses -- the longest losing streak since 2002.DJ30 -189.01 NASDAQ -14.55 NQ100 +0.1% R2K -2.2% SP400 -1.2% SP500 -11.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 728/3.52 bln/2054 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 749/2.1 bln/2451

6:06PM IBM preannounces Q3 EPS above consensus, revs below; reaffirms FY08 EPS (IBM) 90.55 -5.10 : Co preanounces Q3 EPS above consensus; co sees EPS at $2.05 vs $2.02 First Call consensus. Co provides downside revs guidance; co sees revs of $25.3 bln vs $26.5 bln consensus. Co also reaffirms FY08 EPS of at least $8.75 vs $8.76 consensus. The co's gross profit margin in Q3 was 43.3% compared with 41.3% in Q3 of 2007. Pre-tax income was $3.9 billion, an increase of 19 percent compared with the third quarter of 2007. At the end of the third quarter, IBM's year-to-date free cash flow was ~$6.4 billion and its cash balance was $9.8 bln. The co's gross profit margin in the third quarter was 43.3% compared with 41.3% in Q3 of 2007. Pre-tax income was $3.9 bln, an increase of 19%compared with Q3 of 2007.

5:59PM FormFactor withdraws special meeting proposal (FORM) 16.55 +1.82 : Co announced it has withdrawn its stock option exchange proposal that was scheduled to be considered at a special meeting of stockholders on Wednesday, October 8, 2008. The proposal asked stockholders to approve an opportunity for employees to exchange underwater options for a smaller number of new equity awards. FORM said that although based on preliminary indications the vote would have been very close, the lack of support from some institutional stockholders has caused it to reconsider the terms and timing of the proposal. FormFactor continues to consider the creation of meaningful equity incentives for employees to be important to the co's success.

8:03AM Merix beats by $0.06, beats on revs (MERX) 1.02 : Reports Q1 (Aug) loss of $0.10 per share, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.16); revenues rose 3.5% year/year to $90.6 mln vs the $87.3 mln consensus.

8:01AM Broadcom files suit asserting Qualcomm's licensing practices violate U.S. law (BRCM) 14.67 : Co announced that it has filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that the sales and licensing practices of Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) amount to patent misuse, that Qualcomm patents are "exhausted" by Qualcomm's practices, and that Qualcomm's patents and patent licenses are unenforceable, under applicable U.S. law. The complaint, filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, asserts, among other things, that Qualcomm's use of "exhausted" patents to control post-sale use of products in the wireless communications industry results in a double recovery of royalties (or other consideration) to Qualcomm for the use of its patents. It further asserts that these practices constitute patent misuse that has brought Qualcomm a financial windfall and brought harm to the industry and consumers.

7:08AM Intl Rectifier says Vishay unable to address fundamental concerns of IRF and its shareholders (IRF) 16.77 : Co announces a series of questions that it and its shareholders deserve answers to regarding Vishay Intertechnology's (VSH) highly conditional proposal to acquire IRF and to interject Vishay-paid nominees onto the IRF Board of Directors. "We are disheartened, but not surprised, by Vishay's deafening silence over the issues of vital importance to the shareholders of International Rectifier. We can only surmise that Vishay has no good answers. The Board and management team have great confidence that our strategic roadmap can deliver greater value for our shareholders than the uncertain $23.00 Vishay proposal, and that our Directors will serve the best interests of all IRF shareholders. Glass Lewis, Proxy Governance and Egan Jones all have scrutinized Vishay's proxy proposals and nominees and found them inadequate. Make no mistake: In this uncertain credit market, an offer without iron-clad financing commitments is just crying wolf."

3:21AM LDK Solar updates Q308 outlook (LDK) 19.32 : Co issues upside guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $530.0-540.0 mln vs. $491.00 mln First Call consensus. Co estimates wafer shipments between 230 to 240 MW compared to previous guidance of 210-220 MW. Co also announces that it reached the annualized wafer production capacity of 1.2 GW by the end of Q308.

10:06 am KLA-Tencor downgraded to Neutral at BofA- tgt $29: . BofA downgrades KLAC to Neutral from Buy with a $29 tgt given their broader industry cap-ex revision (down 22% vs prior estimate of down 12%), they do not expect KLAC to outperform peers in this environment. The firm notes with the stock down ~43% YTD they believe the downside is limited from here, but fundamentally they do not see any upside from current levels.

08:35 am Fed Funds Rate Cut 50 Basis Points to 1.5%

The Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee has cut the fed funds rate 50 basis points to 1.5%. The move comes as part of a coordinated effort with other central banks to increase liquidity conditions and reduce strain in the financial system.

According to the FOMC, the cut to the fed funds rate was made in light of weakening economic activity and a reduction in inflationary pressures. Reduced inflationary pressure is strongly reflected by lower commodity prices, which have stemmed from the very fear of a global slowdown.

The committee's announcement came earlier this morning, though it was originally scheduled to meet at the end of the month. However, amid recent turmoil in financial markets, pundits called on the committee to make an intermeeting rate cut.

The committee stated that the intensification of turmoil in the financial markets is likely to exert additional restraint on spending as households and businesses are challenged to obtain credit. Tighter credit puts further strain on economic growth.

Alongside the Fed, the European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Canada, and Swiss National Bank are also reducing interest rates for their respective economies.