From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : For the second straight session stocks failed to hold fractionally improved 2009 highs. This session's reversal came as financials fell out of favor and concerns mounted for tomorrow's jobs report. A disappointing ISM reading didn't offer any help.
Bank of America (BAC 15.76, +0.11) helped put stocks on an upward path with news that it will repay its $45 billion TARP loan with $26.2 billion in excess liquidity and $18.8 billion in proceeds from the sale of common equivalent securities. That prompted several brokerage firms to issue upgrades on the stock, while analysts at Fitch upgraded the company's credit ratings.
In light of Bank of America's announcement, FDIC Chairman Bair stated that regulators are being very careful and very measured about letting banks repay TARP funds, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Bernanke felt the need to defend initial bank bailouts during his reconfirmation hearing. Bernanke didn't offer any new insights into the health of the financial system or the broader economy, though.
Conversely, European Central Bank President Trichet provided an increased 2010 GDP forecast for Europe, but also made dovish comments regarding policy. That caused the euro to slide and the U.S. dollar to gain ground. Initial weakness in the greenback had helped support a positive tone among participants in the early going. The dollar finished with a 0.1% gain against other currencies.
Financials also failed to provide steady support. The sector had been up as much as 1.8% early on, but it tumbled to a 2.1% loss. Principal Financial Group (PFG 22.52, -3.46) proved to be a heavy drag on the sector. Its shares endured their worst single-session percentage slide in more than six months after the company issued downside guidance for fiscal 2010.
The broader market was also undercut by concerns about the government's official nonfarm payrolls report, which is due tomorrow morning, even though White House representatives stated that they have no figures that suggest an increase in the unemployment rate. Unemployment already stands at a 25-year high.
On a related note, initial jobless claims for the week ending November 28 totaled 457,000, which is not as bad as the 480,000 initial claims that had been expected and marks a one-year low for initial claims. Continuing claims came in at 5.47 million, which is above the 5.40 million that many had come to expect and is also up from the previous week's 5.44 million continuing claims.
A disappointing ISM Service Index for November added to morning selling pressure. The sub-50 reading of 48.7 suggests that last month's service sector activity contracted, which is a surprise since the consensus estimate had been pegged at 51.5 following the October's reading of 50.6.
After sellers knocked stocks from their early perch, the market spent most of the afternoon moving sideways in a narrow range. However, pressure mounted late in the session to hand stocks a broad-based loss -- telecom (+0.2%) and utilities (+0.3%) were the only two sectors to advance.
Due to a generally disappointing batch of monthly same-store sales results, retailers struggled for the entire session. They finished with a 1.2% loss. Macy's (M 15.81, -0.49), JCPenney (JCP 28.35, -0.82), and TJX Companies (TJX 37.31, -1.08) were among the worst performers in the group. November same-store sales for Macy's slid 6.1%, while JCPenney said its monthly sales fell 5.9%. TJX Companies actually logged an 8.0% increase in its same-store sales, but that was disregarded when the company reaffirmed its downside guidance.
Comcast (CMCSA 15.91, +0.97) had a strong session, however. It announced that it has entered a definitive agreement to take majority control of NBC Universal from General Electric (GE 16.00, -0.07). Comcast will pay GE $6.5 billion to secure that stake, while GE will have the option to sell its remaining stake in coming years.
Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+0.3%), Telecom (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.1%), Materials (-1.7%), Energy (-1.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.8%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.7%), Industrials (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.6%), Tech (-0.2%)DJ30 -86.53 NASDAQ -11.89 NQ100 -0.4% R2K -1.2% SP400 -1.0% SP500 -9.32 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 852/2.01 bln/1811 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1068/1.13 bln/1947
4:30PM Rambus: Samsung to Offer 1 Gigabit XDR DRAM (RMBS) 20.24 +1.65 : Co announced that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. will offer a 1 Gigabit XDR DRAM memory device. XDR DRAM is a key component of Rambus' award-winning XDR memory architecture. Samsung's 1Gb XDR DRAM device will broaden the availability of XDR technology for gaming, computing and consumer electronics applications.
4:29PM Marvell beats by $0.08, beats on revs (MRVL) 16.53 : Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.35 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the First Call consensus of $0.27; revenues rose 1.5% year/year to $803.1 mln vs the $770 mln consensus. MRVL reports Q3 non-GAAP gross margins of 57.8% vs 55.2% consensus. Co said, "Cash flow from operations for Q of FY10 was $203.5 mln, up 12% sequentially from $182.3 mln in Q2 of FY10 and down 21% from $258.5 mln in Q3 of FY09. Free cash flow, defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures and purchases of IP licenses, was $195.9 mln, up 12% sequentially from $175.3 mln in Q2 of FY10 and down 20% from $244.3 mln in Q3 of FY09."
Cree (CREE) announces that it has acquired a portfolio of patents and patent applications related to semi-insulating silicon carbide material and power device technology from Daimler AG...
7:33AM Canadian Solar announces intention to build solar panel manufacturing facility in Ontario (CSIQ) 22.95 : Co announces that it is commencing the site selection and approvals process to establish a 200 megawatt module manufacturing facility in Ontario. The new facility is expected to result in 500 new direct manufacturing jobs in Ontario and sufficient capacity to supply electricity to 60,000 homes per year. The estimated cost of the plant will be CDN$24 mln, and once completed, it will be one of the largest solar panel manufacturing facilities in North America, further strengthening Canadian Solar's position as the country's leading, Canadian-owned manufacturer of solar modules. The plant will be completed in stages, with the first phase of operations expected to commence in 2010.
AMD (AMD) announced its involvement in the development of one of the first industry benchmark testing suites for OpenCL. The benchmark suite includes remote analysis, benchmarking and diagnostic features for PCs, servers, mobile devices and networks, and can be used to test OpenCL performance on ATI Stream technology... ASML (ASML), along with its subsidiary Brion Technologies, announced a broad-scoped joint development project with STMicroelectronics (STM) to accelerate 28-nm node deployment and 22-nm node development...
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
