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From Briefing.com: 4:35 pm : Blue chips managed modest gains amid a bevy of better-than-expected earnings, but the results acted as a positive catalyst for the broader market, which settled with a strong gain.

The S&P 500 extended its rebound from the prior session so that it is now less than 1% below the 52-week high that it tumbled from late last week. Its strength in the latest session was broad based with all 10 major sectors booking gains.

Broader market strength coupled with a 0.9% increase in crude oil prices to $83.91 per barrel to take energy stocks to a 1.9% gain. That was the best of the major indices.

Financials were next in line. The sector settled 1.3% higher with regional banks up 3.5% following better-than-expected bottom line results from Marshal & Isley (MI 9.31, +0.90), Regions Financial (RF 8.80, +0.47), and Zions Bank (ZION 27.42, +1.99).

Goldman Sachs (GS 159.98, -3.34) reported an upside earnings surprise of its own on the heels of fraud charges by the SEC. As for the latter matter, Britain's financial regulator started a formal enforcement investigation into the firm.

IBM (IBM 129.69, -2.54) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 65.99, -0.04) also bested Wall Street's expectations for the latest quarter, but a lowered forecast from Johnson & Johnson and dissatisfaction with IBM's margins dampened enthusiasm over the reports.

Market participants also showed little interest in upbeat earnings from Coca-Cola (KO 54.47, -0.85) and a dividend hike from Procter & Gamble (PG 63.19, -0.03). Their subsequent weakness hampered the consumer staples sector, which closed just 0.1% for the better.

Still, buying in the broader market was impressive as stocks climbed for the eighth time in nine sessions and the Volatility Index dropped by 9.3%. The VIX is now just 3% above the multiyear low that it hit last week.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+1.9%), Financials (+1.3%), Utilities (+1.1%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.1%), Industrials (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.7%), Tech (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.3%), Materials (+0.2%), Consumer Staples (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None) DJ30 +25.01 NASDAQ +20.20 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +1.4% SP400 +1.3% SP500 +9.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2045/2.08 bln/651 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2499/1.13 bln/556

4:36PM Apple beats by $0.88, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs above consensus (AAPL) 244.59 -2.48 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $3.33 per share, $0.88 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $2.45; revenues rose 48.7% year/year to $13.5 bln vs the $12.04 bln consensus. Co reports Q2 gross margins of 41.7% vs Street est of 40.1%, up from 39.9% in the year-ago quarter. Co reports 10.89 mln iPods sold in Q2 vs Street est of ~9.7 mln, 8.75 mln iPhones sold in Q2 vs Street est of ~7.3 mln, and 2.94 mln Macs sold in Q2 vs Street est of ~2.9 mln. Co issues mixed guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $2.28-2.39 vs. $2.70 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $13.0-13.4 bln vs. $12.97 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. International sales accounted for 58% of the quarter's revenue. "We're thrilled to report our best non-holiday quarter ever, with revenues up 49 percent and profits up 90 percent," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We've launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year." Stock is halted.

4:21PM Altera beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs above consensus (ALTR) 26.75 +0.68 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.50 per share, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.40; revenues rose 52.0% year/year to $402.3 mln vs the $396.7 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 sequential revs growth of 8-12%, which calculates to ~$434.5-450.6 mln vs. $400.80 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:08PM Juniper Networks beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (JNPR) 31.45 +0.27 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 19.4% year/year to $912.6 mln vs the $906.1 mln consensus. JNPR's operating margin for the first quarter of 2010 increased to 17.6% on a GAAP basis from 10.6% in the same quarter a year ago. Non-GAAP operating margin for the first quarter of 2010 increased to 23.2% from 16.4% in the same quarter a year ago.

4:05PM Cree beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides JunQ above consensus (CREE) 82.17 +2.10 : Reports Q3 (Mar) earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.44; revenues rose 78.5% year/year to $234.1 mln vs the $223.5 mln consensus. CREE reports non-GAAP gross margin of 48.1% vs the 47.1% consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4 (Jun), sees EPS of $0.48-0.51, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.47 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $255-265 mln vs. $241.8 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:02PM Plexus beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (PLXS) 39.66 +2.229 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.51 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 26.3% year/year to $491 mln vs the $486.4 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.54-0.60 vs. $0.54 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $520-545 mln vs. $506.81 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "Our pace of new business wins continued at a strong level. During the second fiscal quarter we won 18 new manufacturing programs that we currently anticipate will generate approximately $137 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production over the coming quarters. Our engineering services business continued to build a healthy backlog, winning approximately $16 million of new programs during the second fiscal quarter. All new business is subject to risks around the timing and ultimate realization of the anticipated revenues."

4:01PM Evergreen Solar Announces Proposed $165 Million Convertible Senior Secured Notes Offering (ESLR) 1.22 +0.04 : Co announced its intention to offer $165 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior secured notes due 2015, subject to market conditions and other factors. Evergreen Solar will use the net proceeds from this offering for the purchase of a portion of its outstanding 4% Convertible Senior Notes due 2013 concurrent with the closing of this offering, and intends to use the remainder of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, working capital and capital expenditures for further expansion of its manufacturing facility in Wuhan, China.

4:00PM Canadian Solar expects PV module shipments in the first quarter of 2010 to be approximately 189 MW to 191 MW, with gross margins at 13% to 13.5%. (CSIQ) 21.33 +0.40 : Co announced that based on selected unaudited financial results, it now expects PV module shipments in the first quarter of 2010 to be approximately 189 MW to 191 MW, with gross margins at 13% to 13.5%. This compares to prior expectations for shipments of approximately 180 MW to 190 MW and gross margin in the mid-teens. The Company expects to incur a material net foreign exchange loss for the quarter, estimated at US $18 million to US $20 million pre-tax, due to the significant depreciation of the Euro against the U.S. dollar during the quarter. "Demand for our products was very strong in Q1 and we were able to maintain our raw materials prices as well as our processing costs within the expected range for the quarter. The Euro depreciated dramatically during the quarter and we did not have adequate currency hedging to cover our Euro exposure. We have since taken actions to significantly increase our currency hedging, with approximately 85% of our expected Euro exposure for the second quarter of 2010 now protected."

Integral Systems (ISYS) has entered into an agreement with Aleut Communications Services to relocate the operational satellite ground system equipment. Under the terms of the FSOF Relocation contract, Integral Systems will provide the engineering services and expertise to plan and execute moving all of the equipment to NOAA's new, modernized facility, without disrupting operations... Clare, a wholly owned subsidiary of IXYS Corporation (IXYS), announced the immediate availability of the CPC9909 High-Voltage HB LED driver...

8:04AM Trina Solar to Supply Power for Belgian-European Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo (TSL) 25.20 : Co announces that its subsidiary, Changzhou Trina Solar Energy, has partnered with one of the largest and most experienced global renewable energy developers, Enfinity, to cover the roofs of the Belgian-European Pavilion and the Theme Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo with the Company's modules.

2:03AM O2Micro receives ruling in ITC case (OIIM) 7.40 : Co announces that the Administrative Law Judge for the U.S. International Trade Commission issued an Initial Determination regarding respondents Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), Microsemi (MSCC), and ASUSTek. The ALJ determined that none of the Respondents in the investigation violated Section 337 (19 U.S.C. 1337). The ALJ's ruling is an Initial Determination on the Respondents' activities as they relate to a single O2Micro patent. If the Commission grants a petition for review, it may affirm, modify, reverse, set aside, or remand all or part of the ALJ's decision in developing the full final determination.