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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 02-Oct-09Despite a strong start on Monday, U.S. equity markets closed lower for the second straight week as a raft of poor data suggested the economic recovery may be losing momentum. The S&P 500 declined 1.8% and probed key resistance around 1,020 on Friday, near its 200-day moving average.

Nine of the ten sectors that make up the index declined this week, led by Industrials (-3.5%). Consumer Staples played defense, rising a modest 0.7%.

Last week the market saw the return of IPOs (there were three more this Thursday and Friday), and this week merger and acquisition activity resumed. Specifically, Abbott Labs' (ABT) $6.6 billion acquisition of the Salvoy Group's pharmaceutical business and Xerox's (XRX) $6.4 billion cash and stock acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) helped the S&P climb 1.8% on Monday.

But that just shows how sharp the decline was over the remainder of the week. Most of the damage was done on Thursday, when back-to-back days of poor employment data painted a bearish picture for Friday's highly-anticipated Nonfarm Payrolls figure. Specifically, the ADP Employment change showed a larger-than-expected decline of -254,000 on Wednesday vs. the consensus of -200,000 and Initial Jobless Claims rose by a larger-than-expected 551,000 on Thursday vs. the consensus of 535,000.

Investor fears were realized this morning, when Nonfarm Payrolls showed a larger-than-expected decline of -263,000 vs. the consensus of -175,000. Surprisingly, it looks like the market had already priced in a poor number on Thursday, as the S&P followed up its 2.6% plunge with a much more modest 0.5% decline.

But it wasn't just employment data that was poor this week, as investors were more attentive to weaker-than-expected data, when in past weeks it was quick to dismiss any disappointments in favor of a belief that future reports would only show improvement.

Specifically, the market saw quick moves downward following disappointing Consumer Confidence (53.1 vs. 57.0 consensus), Chicago PMI (46.1 vs. 52.0 consensus) and ISM Manufacturing (63.5 vs. 66.0 consensus) figures throughout the week.

There will be little chance of changing that economic perspective next week, as the calendar is very thin. But we will see another round of key Treasury auctions, including $39 billion in 3-year Notes, $7 billion in 10-year TIPS reopening, $20 billion in 10-year Notes reopening and $12 billion in 30-year Bonds reopening. They all precede this weekend's G-7 meeting in Istanbul, which already had a positive effect on the dollar , as euro region finance ministers and central bankers will reportedly discuss the euro's strength and signal that further dollar weakness is unwelcome.

 
 Index    Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD % 
 DJIA	    9665.19    9487.67	-177.52	  -1.8	 8.1 
 Nasdaq	    2090.92    2048.11	 -42.81   -2.0	29.9 
 S&P 500	    1044.38    1025.21	 -19.17   -1.8	13.5 
 Russell 2000   8.94	580.20	 -18.74	  -3.1	16.2

9:04AM Enbridge to acquire Ontario Solar Project from First Solar (ENB) 37.73 : Co announces that they have entered into an agreement for Enbridge to acquire a 20 megawatt solar energy project that First Solar has developed and is constructing near Sarnia, Ontario. The Sarnia Solar Project is expected to be completed by the end of 2009 and be the largest photovoltaic solar energy facility in operation in Canada and one of the largest in North America. At 20 MW, Enbridge expects the project will generate enough power to meet the needs of about 3,200 homes and help to save the equivalent of approximately 6,600 tonnes of CO2 per year.

9:01AM Advanced Analogic Tech announces that the ITC ruled in favor of motion proposed jointly by AnalogicTech and Linear Technology to terminate a portion of the ongoing patent proceedings (AATI) 3.49 : Co announces that the ITC ruled in favor of a motion proposed jointly by AnalogicTech and Linear Technology (LLTC) to terminate a portion of the ongoing patent proceedings between the two companies. As part of this ruling, Linear agreed to remove certain of AnalogicTech's products from consideration by the ITC. In turn, AnalogicTech agreed that it will not seek to import these products in the future. The parties hope that the removal of these products (which are based on an older architecture and represent a non-material portion of AnalogicTech's revenue) will streamline the remaining issues between the two companies. Today's announcement of the consent decree maintains the same scope of the dispute between the two parties. No new actions have been filed by either party.

8:01AM Canadian Solar and Satcon Tech announce they have signed a turnkey solution distribution agreement (CSIQ) 16.13 : Canadian Solar and Satcon Technology (SATC) announces they have signed a turnkey solution distribution agreement. As part of the contract, Canadian Solar and Satcon will market Canadian Solar's commercial solar PV systems with Satcon's commercial solar PV inverters for commercial rooftop and ground mounted power stations.

8:01AM Chipmos Technology raises Q3 rev guidance (IMOS) 0.94 : The co now expects revenue growth of 13% to 15% in the Q3 2009 compared to Q2 2009. This upwardly revised guidance compares to the co's previous outlook for a high single digit percentage revenue growth in the Q3 2009 compared to Q2 2009. The improvement in Q3 revenue guidance is primarily due to better than expected results in the Company's DRAM and mixed-signal/logic businesses.

7:50AM Volterra Semi announced that U.S. District Court granted Volterra's motion for a preliminary injunction against Infineon (VLTR) 17.26 : Co announced that at a September 30, 2009 hearing, the U.S. District Court granted Volterra's motion for a preliminary injunction against Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY) Infineon Technologies North America Corporation and Primarion Inc. (Infineon/Primarion) in a patent infringement lawsuit.

7:39AM Linear Tech: ITC Judge issues consent order prohibiting Advanced Analogic Technologies from importing 69 voltage regulator products into the United States (LLTC) 26.70 : Linear Technology announces that the judge issued a consent order against Advanced Analogic Technologies in Linear's enforcement proceeding at the U.S. International Trade Commission. The ITC previously found that AATI violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act by importing voltage regulator chips that infringe claims 2, 3, and 34 of Linear's U.S. Patent No. 6,580, 258. These patent claims protect Linear's "sleep mode" invention, comprising circuitry that significantly extends battery life for a wide range of portable electronic devices by allowing the device to "sleep" when little power is needed. Specifically, the ITC determined that AATI's infringing products include AAT1143, AAT1123, AAT1125, AAT1126, AAT2500, AAT2506, AAT2510, AAT2511, and AAT2512. The Commission then issued an exclusion order barring importation of the named semiconductor products and any other AATI chips that infringe Linear's patent claims.

7:23AM Global chip sales increase 5% month-on-month, SIA says : Worldwide sales of semiconductors in August were $19.1 billion, an increase of 5% from July 2009 when sales were $18.2 billion, the SIA reported. Sales declined 16.1% from August 2008, when sales were $22.7 billion. Sales were up sequentially in all geographic regions. Year-to-date sales through August are down 21.3% to $133.8 billion from $170.1 billion at this time last year. The rate of decline has slowed from the first six months of 2009 during which sales declined by 25% year-on-year... "Continuing recovery of consumer spending led the sixth-consecutive month of sequential growth in semiconductor sales," said SIA President George Scalise. "Various incentive programs for energy-efficient products, ranging from automobiles to home appliances, have bolstered demand for semiconductors, which deliver critical enabling technology for reducing energy consumption. Growing sales of netbook personal computers, which now account for approximately 17% of notebook PC unit sales, have created an important new market segment, filling a gap between 'smart cell phones' and conventional laptop PCs," Scalise continued. "Personal computers have become especially attractive to consumers as average selling prices for PCs have declined by around 14% while memory content has increased by 25% during the past year. This translates into significantly more computing power at a significantly lower price." Scalise noted that consumers now account for approximately 50% of all PC unit sales. "Notwithstanding the slow recovery of demand from the enterprise sector, we are encouraged that industry momentum has turned positive following the steepest downturn in more than a decade," Scalise concluded.