From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks were up as much as 1.8% before the latest batch of economic data triggered a round of selling pressure. The major indices were able to finish the see-saw session with marked gains, but off their session highs.
November factory orders fell 4.6%. They were expected to decline 2.3% after falling 6.0% in October.
November home sales were down 4.0% month-over-month, which is worse than the 1.0% decline that was widely forecast. Sales were down 4.2% in the prior month.
Bucking the trend of worse-than-expected data, the December ISM Service Index came in at 40.6, which was better than the consensus estimate of 36.5. The reading was also up from a multiyear low of 37.5.
In other economic news, the minutes from the Dec. 16 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting indicated there was significant contraction in economic activity during the fourth quarter, and downside risk to growth remains. Unemployment is expected to rise significantly into 2010.
The FOMC noted it stands ready to expand purchases of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities; it is also evaluating the potential benefits of purchasing longer-term Treasuries.
Stocks slipped in the wake of the announcement, but found support when they tested afternoon lows. The re-emergence of buyers paired with the realization that the FOMC's comments didn't really tell the market anything new helped stocks ascend to their best levels of the afternoon.
However, the stock market was unable to eclipse its session high and drifted lower to finish the session with a 0.8% gain.
Cyclical plays were among the strongest gainers.
Tech topped the other economic sectors by advancing 3.0% with help from large-cap holdings like Microsoft (MSFT 20.76, +0.24) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ 39.31, +2.98). Other large-cap tech names helped the Nasdaq outperform the other headline indices.
Materials (+1.9%) advanced with help from Mosaic (MOS 38.56, +0.89). Mosaic posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings results but ran into some pressure when it indicated during its conference call it is seeing a tight supply chain. Meanwhile, Dow Chemical (DOW 16.05, +1.00) indicated it will seek to enforce its rights regarding a failed business agreement with a Kuwaiti petrochemical outfit.
Consumer discretionary stocks (+1.8%) and industrials (+1.6%) also outpaced the broader market.
Energy was a leader early on, gaining as much as 3.0%, but it finished just 0.5% higher as oil prices pared early gains to close just above the unchanged mark at $48.85 per barrel. Oil was up as much as 3.4%.
Financials (+1.9%) were the only other economic sector to post a gain. Its advance came in the face of a warning from Bank of America (BAC 14.28, +0.30) chief executive Ken Lewis that 2008 results are expected to be below Wall Street's expectations. Bank of America isn't scheduled to announce its quarterly results until later this month.DJ30 +62.21 NASDAQ +24.35 NQ100 +1.0% R2K +1.9% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +7.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2013/2.19 bln/758 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2461/1.34 bln/681
5:26PM Cree: U.S. Pentagon to install Cree LR24 recessed LED luminaires (CREE) 17.83 +1.68 : Co announces that more than 4,200 LR24 recessed LED luminaires are planned for installation in Wedge 5 of the Pentagon as part of a major renovation currently underway. In a signing ceremony today at the Pentagon, John J. Kubricky, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts, and Albert C. Ellet, acting director of the Washington Headquarters Service responsible for overseeing the renovation, signed an intra-departmental Memorandum of Agreement kicking-off the initiative to install LED lighting in the Pentagon.
5:09PM Rambus DDR3 interface solution selected by Panasonic (RMBS) 18.28 +0.90 : Rambus (RMBS) announced that Panasonic Corporation (PC) has licensed Rambus' DDR3 memory controller interface solution for system LSI implementation in consumer electronics products. This fully-integrated macro cell architecture provides the physical layer (PHY) interface between the controller logic and DDR3 DRAM devices to achieve data rates up to 1.6Gbps.
4:47PM Aehr Test Systems receives order for its new Advanced Burn-in and Test System from a European provider of imbedded wireless technology (AEHR) 2.68 +0.01 :
4:33PM Ixys guides Q3 revs below consensus; suspends dividend (IXYS) 7.75 +0.20 : Co issues downside guidance; co sees Q3 revs of $56-58 mln vs $71 mln First Call single-analyst est. Co says in light of the general economic decline, many of the co's customers reduced their orders or delayed delivery into calendar 2009. This caused a significant slowdown in business activity as the December 2008 quarter progressed. To address current economic conditions, the co has implemented several aggressive cost-cutting measures, including, but not limited to, reducing the number of personnel, 10% salary reductions for many U.S. employees (including the CEO and the COO), and 10% reductions in fees paid to the members of its Board of Directors. IXYS is considering additional cost-cutting measures to further reduce its expenses in line with the reduced revenue levels. To conserve cash, the Board of Directors also suspended the company's cash dividend indefinitely. The co's previously announced stock repurchase program remains in effect.
4:20PM Ixia lowers Q4 guidance below consensus (XXIA) 5.85 +0.01 : Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.02-$0.03, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.07 First Call consensus; sees Q4 (Dec) revs of $40.5-41.5 mln vs. $46.50 mln consensus. Fourth quarter 2008 revenues were impacted by lower than expected bookings from service providers in North America and Europe while bookings from our government accounts were seasonally down from the immediately preceding third quarter.
4:16PM Microchip issues downside Q3 EPS guidance (MCHP) 20.01 +0.66 : Co issues downside guidance, sees Q3 EPS of $0.23-$0.26, ex-items, vs $0.32 First Call consensus. Co states, "General economic and semiconductor industry conditions have continued to decline since our October earnings call..As a result of these conditions, we are continuing with a pay cut for all of our worldwide non-manufacturing employees which was implemented during the December quarter. We are also continuing actions to reduce manufacturing capacity in our wafer fabrication facilities in the U.S. and our assembly and test facility in Thailand. These and other actions have been taken to right-size our manufacturing output and keep operating expenses at reasonable levels."
4:03PM SMSC beats by $0.10, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (SMSC) 16.62 -0.28 : Reports Q3 (Nov) earnings of $0.39 per share, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $0.29; revenues fell 19.5% year/year to $84.3 mln vs the $83.8 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of ($0.40)-(0.55), excluding items, vs. $0.15 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $45-51 mln vs. $76.40 mln consensus. The recent and ongoing difficult economic conditions and sharp decline in visibility continue to hinder the Company's ability to provide guidance. As a result, management cautions that it is important to consider the following guidance together with the caveats, assumptions and discussion that will be presented during a conference call and webcast as outlined below.
1:36PM Apple confirms 17-inch MacBook Pro with new built-in battery (AAPL) 94.85 +0.26 : Co confirms the new 17-inch MacBook Pro and new built-in battery that delivers up to eight hours of use and up to 1,000 recharges The new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes NVIDIA graphics and the latest generation Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors.
Broadcom Corporation (BRCM) and Adobe Systems (ADBE) announce the integration of the Adobe Flash platform into Broadcom's latest digital television and set-top box system-on-a-chip platforms...
09:38 am LDK Solar (LDK)
LDK Solar (LDK 13.58, -1.26), maker of wafers for solar cells, issued downside revenue guidance for its fourth quarter.
LDK expects revenue between $425 million and $435 million compared to the First Call consensus estimate of $540.53 million. Earlier revenue guidance from LDK called for revenue between $555 million and $565 million.
LDK also trimmed its gross margin expectations to a range between 10-13% from earlier expectations of 18-21%.
During the fourth quarter, LDK said it experienced lower demand as customers delayed shipments until 2009 in light of the current global economic crisis and tight credit markets.
Shares of LDK are down 9% in Tuesday's early trade.
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