Sector Investing

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:35 pm : Despite a stronger dollar and some sloppy action, the S&P 500 was able to net a modest gain in Tuesday's trade.

Stocks had started the session in negative territory as the U.S. dollar gained ground against a basket of major foreign currencies and drove the Dollar Index up almost 0.8% to a near one-month high. In the face of broader market weakness and a stronger greenback, materials stocks (+1.2%) were able to make strong gains as gold prices raced higher.

Gold shook free from its correlation to the greenback by trading higher for the entire session. It settled with a 2.9% gain at $1084.90 per ounce, but that was after it hit a new record high of $1087.30 per ounce. Gold's record high came about as the dollar handed back a large chunk of its gains, such that the Dollar Index closed with a near 0.2% gain.

The greenback's pullback also brought some buyers back into the broader equity market. Buyers showed favor for industrial stocks, which finished 1.4% higher, better than any other major sector. Among industrial plays, railroad stocks (+12.0%) garnered particular interest, thanks to a cash and stock offer of $100 per share for Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 97.00, +20.93) from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 100,450.00, +1,700). Despite that vote of confidence, stocks still lacked leadership.

Financials, a frequent leader for the broader market, traded erratically before settling with a 0.4% gain. Insurers (+4.4%) proved helpful in the advance, offsetting weakness in MasterCard (MA 219.20, -3.45), which posted better-than-expected third quarter earnings, but reaffirmed that it wouldn't hit its long-term revenue growth target due to recent macro weakness.

In other corporate news, Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 58.93, -0.56) reaffirmed an in-line earnings outlook for fiscal 2009, but also said it will eliminate 6% to 7% of its global workforce as it works to strengthen its position.

Factory orders for September were the only piece of data on the economic calendar. Orders increased a stronger-than-expected 0.9%, but that didn't have an impact on trade.

Economic data will be in sharper focus tomorrow, though. The ADP Employment Report for October is due, along with the ISM Services Index for October. The FOMC also issues its latest policy statement.

Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+1.4%), Materials (+1.2%), Energy (+1.1%), Financials (+0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.7%), Telecom (-0.5%), Tech (-0.3%), Utilities (-0.2%), Health Care (-0.1%)DJ30 -17.53 NASDAQ +8.12 NQ100 +0.4% R2K +1.5% SP400 +1.2% SP500 +2.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1611/2.18 bln/1070 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1841/1.38 bln/1185

FEATURES

Market Coverage
Market Overview
Market Update
In Play®
Story Stocks
Short Stories
Tech Stocks

Market Events
Earnings Calendar
Economic Calendar
Splits Calendar
Conference Call Calendar
IPO Calendar
Upgrades/Downgrades

Market Statistics
Market Digest
U.S. Market Indices
World Market Indices
Currency Exchange Rates

InPlay

6:50PM Seaspan misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line (SSW) 8.80 +0.36 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.25 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 28.6% year/year to $74.1 mln vs the $73.6 mln consensus.

6:47PM W. R. Berkley Corp names W. Robert Berkley, Jr. President and Chief Operating Officer (WRB) 24.81 +0.05 : Co announced the election by the Board of Directors of W. Robert Berkley, Jr. as president and chief operating officer of the Company. The appointment is effective immediately. He has been responsible for the oversight of the co's domestic insurance operations, including its specialty, regional and alternative markets businesses, since 2005.

6:45PM BioMimetic Therapeutics receives first orthopedic marketing approval for Augment Bone Graft (BMTI) 11.18 -0.07 : Co announced today that it has received approval from Health Canada to begin the marketing of its lead orthopedic product, Augment Bone Graft, as an alternative to the use of autograft in midfoot, hindfoot and ankle fusion indications in Canada.

6:41PM Magna announced that it has been advised by General Motors that the GM Board of Directors has decided to terminate the sale process for Opel (MGA) 40.17 +0.18 :

6:28PM Alaska Air Group reports October traffic (ALK) 25.90 -0.13 : Co reported an increase in load factor to 77.0% in October 2009, compared to 73.6% in October 2008, on a 1.6 percent decline in available seat miles compared to the prior-year period. Alaska also reported that 85.8% of its flights arrived on time in October 2009, a 1.4-point increase compared to the 84.4% reported in October 2008. The following tables show the operational results for October 2009 and for the first ten months of 2009, compared to the prior-year periods:

6:18PM Getty Realty sees Q3 FFO's of $0.54 vs. single-analyst est of $0.47 (GTY) 24.87 +0.28 :

6:03PM Douglas Emmett reports Q3 in-line (DEI) 11.81 +0.11 : Reports Q3 (Sept) funds from operations of $0.31 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.31; revenues fell 10.9% year/year to $140.4 mln vs the $139.7 mln consensus.

5:44PM PPG Architectural coatings announces 2010 pricing action (PPG) 57.98 +0.49 : Co announced today its Architectural Coatings business unit will execute price increases across distribution channels in January 2010 in response to a resurging escalation of raw material costs.

5:34PM Buckeye Tech beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (BKI) 9.15 +0.56 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.11 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues fell 19.9% year/year to $177.3 mln vs the $177 mln consensus.

5:33PM Essex Property beats by $0.43; guides FY09 FFO above consensus (ESS) 76.80 +0.94 : Reports Q3 (Sep) funds from operations of $1.69 per share, $0.43 better than the First Call consensus of $1.26. Co issues upside guidance for FY09, sees FFO of $6.72-6.82 vs. $6.31 consensus.

5:29PM Quality Distribution beats by $0.04, beats on revs (QLTY) 3.98 +0.01 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the First Call consensus of $0.02; revenues fell 24.2% year/year to $162.8 mln vs the $154.7 mln consensus.

5:27PM MasTec announces proposed $100 mln private offering of senior convertible notes due 2014 (MTZ) 12.36 +0.45 :

5:22PM BGC Partners correction: Beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs below consensus (BGCP) 4.92 -0.07 : Earlier, we incorrectly reported that BGCP reported revs of $265.8 mln, which was incorrect. The company actually reported revenues of $291.2 million, down 3.8% YoY vs. $277.3 consensus... The co reported Q3 (Sep) post-tax distributable earnings of $0.10 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus. The co issued downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 distributable earnings revenues of between $255-275 mln vs. $290.78 mln consensus. BGC Partners expects Q4 2009 post-tax distributable earnings to be in the range of $9-15 mln versus $8.0 mln in the year-earlier quarter.

5:19PM CB Richard Ellis announces launch of at-the-market public stock offering of up to $300 million (CBG) 10.78 +0.22 : Co announces that it intends to sell shares of its Class A common stock, having an aggregate offering price of up to $300 million, from time to time, pursuant to an at-the-market offering program through BofA Merrill Lynch, as sales agent and/or principal. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of a portion of its outstanding indebtedness under its senior secured credit agreement.

5:16PM Tesco reports Q3 EPS of ($0.01) vs ($0.10) First Call consensus; revs $72.6 mln vs $64.89 mln First Call consensus (TESO) 9.45 +0.96 : "The continued depressed drilling markets, particularly in North America, have reduced our revenue streams across all our business lines. However, our competitive positioning and balance sheet continue to improve. During the quarter, we generated positive cash flow and reduced our net debt outstanding to a net cash position of $11.9 million. We have taken measures to right size the Company to meet the current economic circumstances and market demands. In addition, we have reduced capital spending by 70% year over year. Longer term, we believe the fundamentals driving the growth of our global business remain intact, which we believe will give us the ability to maintain our core strengths and take advantage of opportunities as the market recovers."

5:16PM UAL Corp reported an October consolidated passenger load factor of 83.1% (UAUA) 6.64 : Co reports its preliminary consolidated traffic results for October 2009. The company reported an October consolidated passenger load factor of 83.1%. Total consolidated revenue passenger miles decreased in October by 1.6% on a consolidated capacity decrease of 4.3% in available seat miles compared with the same period in 2008.

5:13PM FelCor Lodging reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides FY09 FFO below consensus (FCH) 3.24 +0.09 : Reports Q3 (Sep) funds from operations of $0.14 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.14; revenues fell 17.1% year/year to $230.2 mln vs the $234.8 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for FY09, Assuming full-year 2009 RevPAR for our 85 consolidated hotels decreases between 18-18.5% sees FFO of $0.31-0.34 vs. $0.70 consensus.

5:11PM Central European Dist beats by $0.03, misses on revs; guides FY09 EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides FY10 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (CEDC) 31.74 +0.16 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.49 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.46; revenues fell 13.8% year/year to $390.1 mln vs the $421.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY09, sees EPS of $2.35-2.50 vs. $2.42 consensus; sees FY09 revs of $1.58-1.70 bln vs. $1.66 bln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY10, sees EPS of $3.00-3.15 vs. $2.96 consensus; sees FY10 revs of $1.8-2.0 bln vs. $1.94 bln consensus. "As we move into the fourth quarter of 2009, we have launched two new lower mainstream vodkas in Russian where our current product portfolio does not address. We believe that the middle class will continue to evolve in Russia over the next three to five years which should drive the growth of the mainstream and sub-premium sectors in Russia where we currently are market leaders. Our export and import portfolios continue to show strong growth over third quarter 2008 even in the face of market softness and we believe we are well positioned to accelerate top line growth as regional and global consumer demand picks up."

5:07PM Cott prices offer of $215.0 mln of senior notes (COT) 8.92 +0.44 : Co announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cott Beverages, priced a private placement offering of $215 mln in aggregate principal amount of senior notes (the "New Notes"). The New Notes will mature on November 15, 2017 at the rate of 8.375% per annum. The New Notes will yield gross proceeds to Cott Beverages of ~$212 mln.

5:05PM Ritchie Bros. to sell fleet of tow trucks in Las Vegas unreserved auction (RBA) 22.63 +0.30 : Co will conduct a large, multi-million dollar unreserved public auction at its Las Vegas auction site on Friday, November 6, 2009 starting at 7:00 a.m. More than 1,300 equipment items and trucks from close to 160 owners will be sold unreserved to the highest bidders on auction day, regardless of price. Items to be sold on auction day include 13 tow trucks and 11 rollback trucks as part of a complete dispersal of close to 40 equipment items for Northstar Towing.

5:04PM Healthsouth beats by $0.14, reports revs in-line; raises FY09 guidance range to above consensus (HLS) 15.73 +0.61 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.14 better than the First Call consensus of $0.24; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $472.7 mln vs the $474 mln consensus. Co raises FY09 guidance range, now sees EPS of $1.45-$1.50 (vs. $1.32 consensus), up from the previous range of $1.15-$1.25. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA guidance for 2009 has been increased to a range of $375-$380 mln from a range of $354-$362 mln .

5:03PM North American Energy misses by $0.02, beats on revs (NOA) 5.32 -0.08 : Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of CDN$0.02 per share, CDN$0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of CDN$0.04; revenues fell 39.0% year/year to CDN$171.1 mln vs the CDN$163.3 mln consensus. "Overall, our results for the current period were in line with our expectations. Going forward, we expect to see continued strength in our recurring services business through the second half of the fiscal year. We anticipate that our project development business will continue to face challenging market conditions in the near term. However, our longer-term outlook remains positive as a result of our recent contract wins and further improvement in oil sands industry fundamentals."

5:02PM Mueller Water reports Q4 (MWA) 4.60 +0.23 : Reports Q4 (Sept) ($0.03), excl non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.08); revenues fell 24.6% year/year to $374.8 mln vs the $369.9 mln consensus.

4:52PM MasTec to acquire Precision Pipeline, LLC for a purchase price consideration of $150 mln (MTZ) 12.36 +0.45 : Co announces that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Precision Pipeline, LLC, a leading natural gas, crude oil and refined products transmission pipeline infrastructure services provider in North America for a purchase consideration of $150 mln, subject to certain purchase price adjustments and an earnout. The transaction is contingent on financing availability on terms and conditions acceptable to MasTec, in its sole discretion, and there is no break-up fee if such financing is not available. Precision has experienced significant growth over the past several years. Precision generated $303 mln of revenue and $37 mln in EBITDA in 2007 and $507 mln of revenue and $93 mln in EBITDA in 2008. For the full year of 2009, Precision estimates revenue of slightly less than $300 mln and EBITDA of about $60 mln. The reduction in earnings in 2009 as compared to 2008 is primarily due to lower revenue as the result of a softer natural gas and petroleum pipeline construction market amidst a global economic downturn. Precision had over $500 million in backlog as of September 30, 2009. The acquisition is expected to be accretive for MasTec in 2010 by at least $0.08 earnings per share, before amortization of acquisition-related intangibles.

4:49PM Exco Resources misses by $0.02 (XCO) 16.61 +1.26 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues fell 28.0% from $332 mln year/year to $239 mln.

4:48PM Approach Resources reports Q3 EPS of $0.05 vs $0.08 consensus; revs fell 64% YoY to $8 mln vs $12 mln consensus (AREX) 8.08 +0.55 : The co also provided an update regarding 2009 drilling activity and guidance and 2010 capital budget and guidance. The Company has resumed drilling and currently is operating two rigs in Cinco Terry. During the fourth quarter of 2009, the co plans to drill 11 gross (5.5 net) wells in Cinco Terry. The co's Board of Directors has approved a 2010 capital budget for exploration and development expenditures of up to $53 mln. For 2009, the co has lowered the top end of its production guidance; co now sees total production of 8700-9000 MMcfe, compared to the previous range of 8700-9400 MMcfe. For 2010, the co sees total production of 8900-9400 MMcfe.

4:47PM CIT Group (CITGQ.PK) announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court has scheduled a hearing to consider prepackaged plan of reorganization for December 8, 2009 (CIT) 0.24 -0.01 :

4:46PM Schweitzer-Mauduit beats by $0.46 (SWM) 53.52 +2.57 : Reports Q3 (Sept) earnings of $1.39 per share, excluding per share restructuring and impairment expense of $1.12, $0.46 better than the First Call consensus of $0.93; revenues fell 7.0% year/year to $184.5 mln vs the $185.9 mln consensus.

4:45PM Time Warner Tcom beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (TWTC) 13.23 +0.47 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 4.5% year/year to $304.8 mln vs the $304.1 mln consensus. Co says the increase in net income sequentially primarily reflects M-EBITDA growth and a decrease in income tax.

4:45PM RXi Pharmaceuticals will present data exemplifying the robust performance of RXi's self-delivering rxRNAs (RXII) 2.17 -0.01 : Co announced it will be giving presentation that will describe RXi's therapeutic platform, including RXi's next generation rxRNA compounds and advanced delivery approaches. The talk will focus on self-delivering rxRNA (sd-rxRNA) compounds. Co will present data exemplifying the robust performance of RXi's self-delivering rxRNAs across multiple genes, cell types, target tissues and animal species. "The results presented by Dr. Samarsky demonstrate the robustness and potential for broad-based applications of self-delivering rxRNA to multiple therapeutic areas. Scientists are seeking RNAi-delivery solutions to disease tissues, and RXi's results represent some of the most impressive delivery data in the field".

4:45PM Anworth Mortgage misses by $0.04, misses on revs (ANH) 7.04 +0.07 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.27 per share, $0.04 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 20.9% year/year to $35.3 mln vs the $37.9 mln consensus. Book value per share increased to $7.58 at September 30, 2009, from $7.30 at June 30, 2009. At September 30, 2009, the current yield on our Agency MBS portfolio was 5.23%, based on a weighted average coupon of 5.33% divided by the average amortized cost of 101.86%, as compared with a yield of 5.35% at June 30, 2009, based on a weighted average coupon of 5.42% divided by the average amortized cost of 101.36%.

4:40PM Discovery misses by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides FY09 revs in-line (DISCA) 28.01 +0.73 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.22 per share, $0.05 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 1.1% year/year to $854 mln vs the $849.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY09, sees FY09 revs of $3.45-3.50 bln vs. $3.48 bln consensus.

4:40PM Pegasystems beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides FY10 revs above consensus (PEGA) 28.62 +0.44 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.16 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.11; revenues rose 23.0% year/year to $64.8 mln vs the $62.8 mln consensus. Gross margins of 62.9% is above the consensus estimate for 61.9%. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees FY10 revs in excess of $300.00 mln vs. $298.38 mln consensus. "This is the ninth consecutive quarter that we have set new records for quarterly revenue. We expect that in 2010 we will surpass another milestone with revenue in excess of $300 million. This is preliminary guidance that will be refined when we are able to evaluate business conditions at the end of 2009."

4:40PM Excel Maritime Carriers beats by $0.79, beats on revs (EXM) 5.82 +0.32 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.81 per share, $0.79 better than the First Call consensus of $0.02; revenues fell 24.7% year/year to $174.4 mln vs the $101 mln consensus.

4:39PM Jack Henry beats by $0.01, misses on revs (JKHY) 23.20 +0.22 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.30; revenues fell 0.4% year/year to $182.3 mln vs the $188.8 mln consensus. Co says backlog, which is a measure of future business and revenue, increased 9% compared to year-ago levels to $291.2 mln ($61.8 mln in-house and $229.4 mln outsourcing) at September 30, 2009. Backlog at September 30, 2008, was $266.2 mln ($65.1 mln in-house and $201.1 mln outsourcing) and at June 30, 2009, it was $289.4 mln ($66.8 mln in-house and $222.6 mln outsourcing).

4:39PM Oil States beats by $0.14, beats on revs (OIS) 36.06 +1.15 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.14 better than the First Call consensus of $0.40; revenues fell 44.0% year/year to $456.1 mln vs the $430.7 mln consensus.

4:39PM 3D Systems beats by $0.08, beats on revs (TDSC) 8.35 -0.08 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.04); revenues fell 22.2% year/year but rose 12% sequentially to $27.7 mln vs the $25.4 mln consensus.

4:37PM FEI Company sells Phenom product line (FEIC) 23.35 -0.36 : Co annouces that Phenom-World, a majority-owned subsidiary of NTS Group B.V. of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, has acquired FEI's Phenom product line. NTS has been FEI's manufacturing partner and was closely involved with the development of the innovative desktop scanning electron microscope before it was introduced in 2007. NTS will continue to manufacture the product, and Phenom-World will assume responsibility for marketing, sales and distribution of the product worldwide, as well as service and warranty repairs for the installed base. FEI will retain a minority position in Phenom-World and will retain certain related intellectual property. FEI expects this transaction will have a minimal impact on its 2009 fourth quarter earnings and will have a modest positive impact in 2010. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

4:30PM Ultratech receives follow-on order for TSV Applications (UTEK) 12.90 -0.02 : The co announces that it has received a follow-on order for its AP200 lithography system, which features an innovative dual-side alignment (DSA) system for through-silicon via (TSV) applications. Built on its customizable Unity Platform, Ultratech's systems are the exclusive tool of record at this customer's facility--one of the first Japanese companies to enter into volume production of image sensors. According to Jan Vardaman, president and founder of TechSearch International, "The level of TSV activity in the last few quarters has increased dramatically. Today, image sensors with TSVs are shipping in high volume for cameras in mobile phones. The next target for mobile phones is memory and processor applications. By the year 2012, millions of wafers will ship with TSVs."

4:11PM STEC Inc beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (STEC) : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.50 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.47; revenues rose 54.3% year/year to $98.3 mln vs the $96.6 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.51-$0.53 vs. $0.52 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $101-103 mln vs. $105.98 mln consensus. Non-GAAP gross profit margin was 49.8% for the third quarter of 2009, vs 49.9% street expectation, and compared to 34.1% for the third quarter of 2008 and 50.1% for second quarter of 2009. Co states, "One of our customers entered into a $120 million supply agreement us for shipments covering the second half of 2009. We recently received preliminary indications that our customer might carry inventory of our ZeusIOPS at the end of 2009 which they will use in 2010. In light of this development, we have jointly initiated a strategic sales and marketing incentive program designed to promote the integration of STEC's SSDs into their systems. As of September 30, 2009, we have accrued $1.5 million of estimated costs for this marketing incentive program. Both companies believe that we will be successful in increasing the pace of the replacement of HDDs with SSDs. If our marketing program is not successful in increasing the demand flow of SSDs, our first quarter of 2010 orders from this customer will be negatively affected; however, the actual impact cannot be quantified at this time."

4:04PM FEI Company beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (FEIC) 23.40 -0.31 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.17 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.11; revenues rose 0.4% year/year to $140.8 mln vs the $140.3 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.19-0.24, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.25 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $145-152 mln vs. $151.52 mln consensus. Bookings are expected to be at least $150 mln.

9:25AM EMC Corp and Cisco introduce the Virtual Computing Environment coalition (EMC) 16.43 : Cisco (CSCO) and EMC, together with VMware (VMW), introduced the Virtual Computing Environment coalition, a collaboration of three information technology "industry leaders. The coalition has been created to accelerate customers' ability to increase business agility through greater IT infrastructure flexibility, and lower IT, energy and real estate costs through pervasive data center virtualization and a transition to private cloud infrastructures."

9:11AM UTStarcom secures commercial contract with Shandong Electric Power (UTSI) 1.73 : Co announces that it has secured a contract with Shandong Electric Power for its recently launched NetRing Transport Network product portfolio.

09:42 am Juniper Networks upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; tgt $31: . Stifel Nicolaus upgrades JNPR to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $31. The firm notes that they came away from Juniper's analyst day less concerned about share losses to Cisco due to the new Trio chipset/MX-3D products and with better visibility on Juniper's plan for a wireless packet core product. The firm notes Cisco's new edge router, the ASR, has gained limited traction over the past 6 months, and while the ASR could certainly start delivering meaningful customer additions over the next 12 months, the firm believes that JNPR's MX-3D products have leapfrogged the ASR in scale and bandwidth capabilities. Furthermore, the firm notes that checks show that there is pent up demand for the MX-3D products, particularly at AT&T.

09:38 am Apple: Caris raises Dec qtr ests; believes powerful Dec-qtr is brewing at Apple: . Caris notes the market's sell-off has returned AAPL to pre-earnings levels, and while they certainly don't mean to fight market sentiment, their confidence in AAPL's outlook is boosted by sales/production momentum to date. Indeed, inputs already reinforce their expectation that AAPL is tracking to a big Dec-qtr, driven by iPhone supply now catching up to demand (their 10 mln unit est unchanged) and Macs running even hotter than plan (they raise our Mac units to 3.4 mln from 3.2 mln w/ less-than-expected ASP decline), driven by recent MacBook/iMac refresh. Firm raising their Dec-qtr revs/EPS to $12.5 bln/$2.13 (from $12.0 bln/$2.00; vs. consensus of $11.9 bln/$2.05).