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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : For the second session in a row, stocks opened lower but buyers moved in to bid the major indices higher. However, upward momentum stalled as the S&P 500 approached the 850 level in the final hour of trading, which prompted sellers to re-enter the fold and hand stocks a sizeable loss.

The late selling effort focused on financial stocks, which closed with a loss of 3.8%, worse than any other sector in the S&P 500. Shares of Morgan Stanley (MS 22.44, -2.21) weighed heavily on the financial sector after the company reported a larger-than-expected first quarter loss and a dividend cut.

Wells Fargo (WFC 18.18, -0.63) worked to offset weakness in the financial sector. Its shares spent most of the session in higher ground after the company reported slightly better earnings than it previewed on April 9. Heading into the close, the stock surrendered its gains to join the sector's many decliners; declining issues in the financial sector outnumbered advancers by more than 6-to-1.

Industrial stocks saw the strongest gains of any sector by closing 1.1% higher. Their advance was led by General Electric (GE 11.80, +0.10), which showed relative strength as the company held a shareholder meeting.

Despite the industrial giant's strength, the Dow lagged the other headline indices and finished 1.0% lower.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts for nearly the entire session. Its advance was largely led by Gilead Sciences (GILD 46.22, +2.49), which garnered support after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

There were several other earnings reports for market participants to digest this session. AT&T (T 25.74, +0.46), McDonald's (MCD 54.25, -1.38), and Yahoo! (YHOO 14.48, +0.10) all topped estimates, but Boeing (BA 37.30, +0.65) and Capital One (COF 14.38, -0.67) missed estimates.

Earnings results will remain in focus heading into tomorrow's session. However, there will also be a couple of economic reports to provide direction to participants. Weekly jobless claims data is due prior to the open (8:30 AM ET), and existing home sales data for March will be released shortly after the opening bell (10:00 AM ET).DJ30 -82.99 NASDAQ +2.27 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.1% SP400 +0.3% SP500 -6.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1393/2.62 bln/1278 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1617/1.77 bln/1402

5:11PM Advanced Micro downgraded to 'CCC+' at S&P; Outlook Negative (AMD) 3.33 -0.03 : S&P removed its ratings on Advanced Micro Devices from CreditWatch and lowered its corporate credit and senior secured ratings on the company to 'CCC+' from 'B'. The outlook is negative. "The rating action reflects our view of the risk that current liquidity, at both AMD as a stand-alone entity and the consolidated group, may be insufficient to adequately fund expected near-term operating losses and debt amortization requirements."

4:34PM Apple beats by $0.24, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (AAPL) 121.51 -0.25 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $1.33 per share, $0.24 better than the First Call consensus of $1.09; revenues rose 8.7% year/year to $8.16 bln vs the $7.96 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.95-1.00 vs. $1.12 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $7.7-7.9 bln vs. $8.28 bln consensus. Apple reports Q2 gross margins of 36.4% vs 33.1% consensus. Apple reports Q2 iPods sales of 11.01 mln vs Street expectation for 10 mln. Apple reports Q2 iPhones sales of 3.79 mln vs Street expectation for 3.5 mln. Apple reports Q2 Mac sales of 2.22 mln vs Street expectation for 2.2 mln. Co said, "We are extremely pleased to report the best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in our history... Apple's financial condition remains very robust, with almost $29 billion in cash and marketable securities on our balance sheet."

4:27PM Xilinx beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (XLNX) 21.17 +0.46 : Reports Q4 (Mar) earnings of $0.26 per share, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.18; revenues fell 17.0% year/year to $395 mln vs the $383.1 mln consensus. Co calls for sales are expected to be up 4% to down 4% sequentially;this is upside guidance for Q1, calculated to be revs of $379.2-410.8 mln vs. $376.45 mln consensus. Gross margin is expected to be in the range of 61% to 63%.

4:21PM eBay beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs in-line (EBAY) 14.78 +0.49 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.34; revenues fell 7.8% year/year to $2.02 bln vs the $1.94 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.34-0.36 vs. $0.35 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $1.85-2.05 vs. $1.98 bln consensus. Net charge off rate rose to 8.95% from 8.75% at Dec 31; 90-day delinquency rate rose to 4.57% from 3.94% at Dec 31. Gross merchandise value declined 6% sequentially. "With a macroeconomic environment that remains challenging, we are focused on operating discipline and strong execution of our three-year growth priorities in our core ecommerce and online payments businesses." Skype contributed $153.2 mln in revenue for the quarter, representing 21% year-over-year growth. Skype added 37.9 mln new users during the quarter and ended the period with more than 443.2 mln registered users. In addition to growing its user base, Skype is focused on product strategies to enhance customer engagement. On April 14, 2009, eBay Inc. announced plans to separate Skype into an independent company commencing with an initial public offering during the first half of 2010.

4:20PM Intersil appoints Jonathan Kennedy Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (ISIL) 12.60 +0.26 :

4:20PM Qualcomm reschedules earnings release due to settlement discussions with Broadcom; says Q2 revenue and operating income met or exceeded prior guidance (QCOM) 40.12 -0.15 : The co is postponing its earnings release and call until Monday, April 27, 2009 due to advanced settlement discussions with Broadcom (BRCM) regarding a global settlement of all disputes between the parties which, if reached, would have an impact on the co's financial results for the fiscal second quarter. No assurance can be given that the co and Broadcom will be able to reach agreement on the terms of a global settlement. Neither co will comment further at this time. Revenue and operating income for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, excluding the potential impact of the Broadcom agreement, met or exceeded prior guidance. Further details on the co's second fiscal quarter results and full fiscal year guidance will be provided in the earnings release and conference call. Except for the impact of this agreement, the co had completed all of its period ending accounting processes and procedures necessary to report its second fiscal quarter results.

4:15PM Intersil misses by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs above consensus (ISIL) 12.60 +0.26 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings from continuing ops of $0.02 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 42.0% year/year to $118.2 mln vs the $110.3 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees GAAP EPS of $(0.01)-0.03, may not be comparable to $0.05 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $123-132 mln vs. $114.34 mln consensus.

4:15PM Advanced Analogic Tech misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs above consensus (AATI) 4.92 +0.11 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.12 per share, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.10); revenues fell 34.3% year/year to $16.5 mln vs the $14.8 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of ($0.13)-($0.10), including SBC expense, not comparable to ($0.09) consensus; sees Q2 revs of $18-21 mln vs. $15.94 mln consensus. The second quarter 2009 estimates include pre-tax quarterly share-based compensation expense in the range of $1.7 to $1.9 million.

4:10PM Novellus beats by $0.04, misses on revs (NVLS) 17.26 +0.61 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.47 per share, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.51); revenues fell 68.6% year/year to $98.9 mln vs the $101.7 mln consensus. Bookings in 1Q09 were $77.8 mln, down $4.9 mln or 5.9% from 4Q08 bookings of $82.7 mln. "The economic environment continues to be challenging and we remain disciplined and focused on cash flow and cost containment. We are cautiously optimistic that our customers' order activity levels have stabilized and are beginning to rebound, although still at relatively low levels compared to our expectations."

4:09PM Lam Research misses by $0.05, reports revs in-line (LRCX) 25.96 +0.61 : Reports Q3 (Mar) loss of $0.71 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.66); revenues fell 71.6% year/year to $174.4 mln vs the $175.9 mln consensus.

4:09PM TriQuint Semi misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (TQNT) 3.59 -0.02 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.11 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.09); revenues fell 20.2% year/year to $118.9 mln vs the $114 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.02-0.04, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.01 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $140-150 mln vs. $137.83 mln consensus. "We are now seeing signs of inventory normalization in some of our markets which should translate into stronger demand in the coming months. While first quarter sales and factory utilization were low, excess inventory both in the channel and at TriQuint was largely burned off.

8:07AM Conexant sells Broadband Access product line to IKAN for $54 mln and assumption of certain liabilities (CNXT) 1.28 : Ikanos Communications (IKAN) announces it will purchase the Broadband Access product line from CNXT. Under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both cos, Ikanos will purchase Conexant's Broadband Access product line for $54 mln in cash and the assumption of certain employee and facility related liabilities. In connection with this transaction, Tallwood Venture Capital has agreed to purchase 24 mln shares of Ikanos common stock at $1.75 per share. Tallwood will also receive warrants to purchase an additional 7.8 mln shares of common stock at $1.75 per share. The warrants will have a term of five years. Upon completion of the transactions, Tallwood Venture Capital will own approximately 45% of the outstanding shares of Ikanos (excluding the warrants). Ikanos expects that the transaction will more than double the co's revenue, while providing significant leverage in its cost and spending structure. Ikanos also expects that the transaction will be accretive to its non-GAAP earnings per share within the first year after the close of the transaction.