From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Tuesday's trade concluded in lackluster fashion as an absence of leadership left stocks to drift during the afternoon, unable to reclaim their initial gains.
Stocks had started the session in higher ground as a better-than-expected S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Report for July brought about some modest support. The report's 20-City Composite showed a 13.3% year-over-year decline, which wasn't as bad as the 14.2% decline that was expected.
However, the solid state of things quickly became unsettled by news that the September Consumer Confidence Index pulled back to 53.1 from 5.4.5 in August. The dip was unexpected; economists, on average, had been expecting a reading of 57.0.
The major indices were unable to fully recover from the flurry of selling that followed the disappointing consumer confidence reading.
News that the FDIC will require insured institutions to prepay estimated quarterly risk-based assessments into 2012 seemed to weight on bank stocks, though the announcement was generally expected. Diversified bank stocks fell 1.9%.
Consumer finance stocks were hit just as hard. They fell 1.9% amid news that the Fed has approved rules amending the transparency and disclosure of terms in credit card agreements.
Bright spots were limited, but shares of Walgreen (WAG 37.35, +3.16) logged their best single-session percentage advance in six months after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The drug retailer helped consumer staples stocks stay in the green for the entire session.
Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary +0.5%, Consumer Staples +0.4%, Utilities +0.2%, Materials +0.1%
Declining Sectors: Tech -0.7%, Energy -0.6%, Financials -0.5%, Telecom -0.5%, Industrials -0.2%, Health Care -0.1%DJ30 -47.16 NASDAQ -6.70 NQ100 -0.4% R2K -0.5% SP400 +0.3% SP500 -2.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1111/2.10 bln/1568 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1435/1.18 bln/1555
4:07PM Micron trading up about $0.30 following earnings (MU) 8.40 -0.04 : 2009 highs are at $8.80 while the 2008 high is $8.97. Last trade at 8.67
4:07PM Jabil Circuit beats by $0.08, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (JBL) 12.28 -0.10 : Reports Q4 (Aug) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 15.2% year/year to $2.8 bln vs the $2.66 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.24-0.32, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.18 consensus; sees Q1 revs of $3.0-3.2 bln vs. $2.88 bln consensus.
4:05PM Oracle buys HyperRoll, financial details not disclosed (ORCL) 21.11 -0.06 : Co announces that it has agreed to acquire certain assets of HyperRoll, a provider of financial reporting acceleration solutions. It is expected to further strengthen Oracle Enterprise Performance Management solutions with additional reporting acceleration technology and continues to emphasize Oracle's product strategy to provide best-in-class offerings that help ensure a rapid, reliable and compliant financial close process for customers. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
4:05PM Micron beats by $0.09, beats on revs (MU) 8.40 -0.04 : Reports Q4 (Aug) loss of $0.10 per share, $0.09 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.19); revenues fell 10.1% year/year to $1.3 bln vs the $1.27 bln consensus. Micron prelim reports gross margin 12%. When adjusted to exclude the effects of selling products subject to previous lower of cost or market write-downs and the idle capacity costs from Inotera and IM Flash, gross margins on sales of memory products improved to positive 8% in the fourth quarter compared to negative 12% in the third quarter as a result of significant decreases in per gigabit manufacturing costs. Consensus called for gross margins of 8.3%... "The market, while still challenging, is beginning to improve. Micron has been one of the only companies in the industry able to generate positive operating cash flow every quarter during this downturn. Our operating performance and ongoing cost improvements put Micron in a great competitive position going forward." Revenue from sales of DRAM products increased 28% in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter due to a 19% increase in sales volumes and an 8% increase in average selling prices. Revenue from sales of NAND Flash products increased 10 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter due to a 23% increase in sales volumes. This was partially offset by an 11% decrease in average selling prices resulting primarily from reduced manufacturing costs associated with products sold to Intel Corporation, the company's NAND Flash manufacturing partner. Prices for NAND Flash products sold to Intel approximate cost, which decreased significantly in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter as the transition to the company's 34 nanometer (nm) NAND process technology was substantially completed. Average selling prices for NAND Flash sales excluding those to Intel were relatively stable in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter.
4:05PM Am Superconductor and Sinovel Sign $100 million follow-on electrical components contract for 3 megawatt wind turbines (AMSC) 30.36 : The co announces that it and Beijing-based Sinovel Wind Corporation Limited (Sinovel) have signed a new contract worth more than $100 million (excluding value added tax) for core electrical components to be utilized in Sinovel's 3 megawatt (MW) wind turbines, known as the SL3000. AMSC expects to begin shipping sets of core components under the new contract in March 2010 and to complete all shipments by the end of calendar year 2011. Sinovel is China's largest wind turbine manufacturer and expects to be the world's fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer by the end of 2009.
Finally we heard renewed Rambus (RMBS 17.53 +0.26) takeover chatter, with the acquirer named in the rumor being Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 47.50 -0.38). RMBS is often the subject of rumors, and like others, this one also seems like a stretch. RMBS shares did pop on the initial rumor, but have since given back much of the gains. While many rumors circulate during the day, and the validity of the source of these rumors can be questionable, the speculation may increase volatility in the stocks in the near term.
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