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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Better-than-expected earnings and a lack of negative headlines fueled strong gains that were supported by broad-based buying and short covering. Though stocks surrendered a chunk of their gains late in the session, they still registered new closing highs for 2009.

A positive tone governed action for the entire session, due largely to a flood of upside earnings surprises from an array of industry players. What's more, the gains that followed came in the face of ongoing calls for a pullback from market pundits, which has encouraged short sellers to bet that the stock market's recent run will falter. However, stocks continue to be supported by those looking to put idle money into play.

Though the benchmark index was unable to cross the psychologically significant 1000 mark, the Nasdaq broke above 2000 for the first time since early October. Both indices finished off of their session highs, but they still managed to close at their best levels of the year.

All 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 logged gains, which ranged from energy's 0.1% gain to the materials sector's 3.0% gain.

Dow Chemical (DOW 21.51, +1.24) provided leadership to the materials sector. The company reported better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter.

Materials stocks were also supported by higher commodity prices, though. A sharp rise in commodities gave the CRB Commodity Index a 3.9% gain, which is its best single-session percentage gain since March.

Oil was a primary driver behind the CRB's advance. Oil prices rebounded 5.8% to settle at $67.00 per barrel after dropping nearly 6% in the previous session.

Higher oil prices and positive earnings surprises from Noble (NBL 59.93, +3.27) and Apache (APA 82.29, +4.37) helped garner support for the energy sector as Exxon Mobil (XOM 70.64, -0.79) faltered after missing the consensus earnings estimate.

Some of the best gains this session came from within the financial sector, which finished almost 2.7% higher. Multi-line insurers along with life and health insurers spiked a respective 5.2% and 4.6% after Hartford (HIG 16.98, +2.02), Lincoln National (LNC 20.34, +2.29), and Aflac (AFL 37.81, +2.36) reported pleasing quarterly results.

Visa (V 67.05, +0.27) and MasterCard (MA 194.17, +5.62) both reported upside earnings results of their own and also provided support to the financial sector.

The session's upbeat tone was generally bolstered by news that the four-week moving average for initial jobless claims fell to its lowest level in months, even though weekly claims climbed more than expected. Continuing claims declined more than expected for another straight week. Continuing claims now stand at levels not seen since April, but many economists caution that the labor market remains far from good.

The advance second quarter GDP announcement is due tomorrow morning and will dominate financial headlines. The current consensus calls for an annualized decline of 1.5% following the 5.5% annualized decline registered in the first quarter. The report is due at 8:30 AM ET.DJ30 +83.74 NASDAQ +16.54 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +1.7% SP400 +1.3% SP500 +11.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1810/2.52 bln/822 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2409/1.35 bln/649

4:39PM Sierra Wireless beats by $0.07, misses on revs; guides Q3 revs below consensus (SWIR) 7.36 +0.50 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.19 per share, $0.07 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.26); revenues fell 13.1% year/year to $135.3 mln vs the $136.8 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.06, ex-items, may not be comparable to ($0.16) consensus; sees Q3 revs of $135 mln vs. $144.45 mln consensus. The EPS guidance is presented on a non-GAAP basis, which excludes Wavecom transaction and integration costs, restructuring costs, stock-based compensation expense, acquisition amortization and foreign exchange on amounts related to the Wavecom acquisition. Our guidance for the third quarter of 2009 reflects the uncertain macro economic environment. Our guidance also includes some rev contribution from expected new product launches and the uncertainties associated with these launches could affect our ability to achieve guidance.

4:37PM First Solar coming in sharply here, more than $12 off the highs and only up ~$6.00 after hours (FSLR) 173.55 +5.56 :

4:35PM Power Integrations beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus (POWI) 27.45 +0.40 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $0.15; revenues fell 8.0% year/year to $49.3 mln vs the $41.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $54-58 mln vs. $44.67 mln consensus. Third-quarter gross margin and operating expenses are expected to be similar to second-quarter levels. Non-GAAP gross margin for the second quarter was 49.7%. "We delivered quarterly revenues well above our original expectations and had an outstanding quarter in terms of profitability and cash flow. We believe that recent design-win momentum is now translating into strong top-line performance. In fact, we had record bookings in the second quarter, and orders have continued at a strong pace in July. While we remain cautious about the global economic outlook, and forecasting revenues remains challenging, we expect our revenues to grow on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter."

4:25PM Applied Micro beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (AMCC) 7.68 +0.19 : Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.01); revenues fell 26.3% year/year to $45.1 mln vs the $44.8 mln consensus. Co says, "We have been able to refocus the business over the last few quarters resulting in a significant reduction to operating expenses and improved asset management as shown on our balance sheet. With these now behind us we should see steady improvement in our profitability as revenues ramp back to last year's levels."

4:25PM Extreme Networks beats by $0.01, beats on revs (EXTR) 2.30 +0.05 : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.03 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.02; revenues fell 17.3% year/year to $81.3 mln vs the $78.4 mln consensus.

4:19PM Nanometrics misses by $0.12, misses on revs (NANO) 3.80 -0.08 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.38 per share, $0.12 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.26); revenues rose 43.6% year/year to $14.5 mln vs the $16 mln consensus.

4:14PM Varian Semi beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (VSEA) 29.82 : Reports Q3 (Jun) loss of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.25); revenues fell 59.8% year/year to $73.4 mln vs the $68.9 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.01-0.06 vs. ($0.09) consensus; sees Q4 revs of $104-114 mln vs. $87.28 mln consensus.

4:11PM Novatel Wireless reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (NVTL) 9.23 +0.66 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.03 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of ($0.03); revenues fell 6.1% year/year to $84.1 mln vs the $77.4 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.07-0.14 vs. ($0.01) consensus; sees Q3 revs of $90-95 vs. $79.35 mln consensus. "Second quarter 2009 revenues increased sequentially by 19%; however, our results were impacted by $2.1 million of cancellation costs related to a significant customer order... Gross margins were 22.1%. Excluding the cancellation costs, gross margin would have been 24.5% and EPS would have been $0.02 per diluted share. During the quarter, we increased our cash position and ended the quarter with total cash and equivalents of approximately $146 million or $4.76 per share."

4:05PM Ingram Micro reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (IM) 18.58 +0.44 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.20 per share, ex-items, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.20; revenues fell 25.4% year/year to $6.58 bln vs the $6.67 bln consensus. Gross margin was 5.87%, an improvement of 34 basis points compared to the prior-year quarter, driven by the company's recent efforts to shed underperforming businesses, pursue an improved mix of higher-margin accounts and products, control margin leakage and enhance its service-based revenues. "Looking to the third quarter, we expect the overall demand environment to follow historical seasonal patterns. While we do not anticipate an economic rebound in the near term, our larger regions will begin to leverage some of the benefits of our recent cost-reduction and operational-improvement actions. Our efforts to protect return on invested capital and improve our business mix have delivered industry-leading balance sheet metrics and solid gross-margin performance but have also contributed to the sales decline in recent quarters. We now plan to place a greater emphasis on securing incremental sales while maintaining our focus on operational excellence and profitability."

4:05PM Evergreen Solar signs contract manufacturing agreement with Jiawei Solar (ESLR) 2.38 +0.09 : Co announces that it has finalized its agreements with Jiawei Solarchina Co., and the Wuhan Government's Hubei Science & Technology Investment Co. Under these agreements Evergreen Solar will manufacture String Ribbon wafers at a leased facility being built by Jiawei in Wuhan, China on Jiawei's campus. Jiawei will convert the String Ribbon wafers into Evergreen Solar-branded panels on a contract manufacturing basis. Evergreen Solar will reimburse Jiawei for its cell and panel conversion costs, plus a contract manufacturing fee. The actual price paid to Jiawei will be negotiated annually. Evergreen Solar will invest $17 mln in cash and equipment in the Wuhan String Ribbon operation. HSTIC will provide Evergreen Solar $33 mln of 7.5% financing, which Evergreen Solar must repay no later than July 2014. Jiawei will make a similar investment for its cell and panel operations with the support of HSTIC. The co notes that initial capacity will be approximately 100 MW. Factory construction has begun and the parties expect that wafer, cell and panel production will begin in the spring of 2010.

4:03PM Monolithic Power beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs in-line (MPWR) 23.79 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.14; revenues fell 0.7% year/year to $41.2 mln vs the $38.9 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $42-$46 mln vs. $42.05 mln consensus. Co sees gross margins at the lower end of its target range of 58%-63% for Q3.

4:03PM First Solar trading up ~$10 following earnings (FSLR) 173.55 +5.56 : Spiked as high as $188.55 Resistance at $187.50. Last trade at $184.40

4:02PM First Solar beats by $0.49, beats on revs (FSLR) 173.55 +5.56 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $2.11 per share, $0.49 better than the First Call consensus of $1.62; revenues rose 25.8% year/year to $525.9 mln vs the $459.1 mln consensus.

8:19AM On The Wires : EMCORE (EMKR) announces an industry team led by The Boeing Company (BA) has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for work on Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed program. The $15.5 mln cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is currently funded to $13.8 mln... Caedence Design Systems (CDNS) announces that it has delivered an end-to-end CPF-based low power and DFM-aware design, verification, and implementation solution tuned for semiconductor foundry UMC in support of its 40-nanometer process technology... Entropic Communications (ENTR) and Sigma Designs (SIGM) announce their cooperative relationship to develop high definition, MoCA compliant Cable TV and IPTV Set-Top-Box reference designs...

7:05AM Am Superconductor beats by $0.12, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (AMSC) 26.28 : Reports Q1 (Jun) earnings of $0.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.00); revenues rose 83.4% year/year to $73 mln vs the $61.1 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $0.41-0.47, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.03 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $260.0-270.0 mln (previous $225.0-235.0 mln) vs. $238.99 mln consensus. Gross margin for FY10 is expected to be 32.0-34.0%, up from previous forecast of 30.0-32.0%. Co reports backlog as of June 30, 2009 of approx $497 mln compared with $558 mln as of March 31, 2009. The decrease is due primarily to shipments made under AMSC's multi-year contract for wind turbine core electrical components with Sinovel.

3:39AM Taiwan Semi beats by $0.01, beats on revs (TSM) 10.10 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.14 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.13; revenues fell 22.6% year/year to $2.24 bln vs the $2.16 bln consensus. Gross margin for the quarter was 46.2%, operating margin was 33.9%, and net margin was 32.9%. Co issues upside guidance for 3Q09, sees revenue fo NT$88-90 bln vs NT$79.19 bln First Call consensus. Gross profit margin is expected to be 46.5-48.5%. Operating profit margin is expected to be 35.0-37.0%. Co expects capital expenditure of approx $2.3 bln vs preivous guidance of $1.5 bln.

1:09AM FormFactor beats by $0.14, beats on revs (FORM) 23.00 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.33 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.47); revenues fell 40.0% year/year to $31.2 mln vs the $28.9 mln consensus.