From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks edged their way higher through the first half of the session, but they lost direction in afternoon trade. The major averages still settled with solid gains, though.
Early support was underpinned by strong gains in Europe, where participants responded positively to news that of strong demand at a Portuguese debt auction. The successful debt offering also won modest support for the euro, which finished the day with a 0.3% gain against the greenback. The British pound saw an even bigger gain of 0.7% versus the dollar.
BP Plc (BP 38.37, +1.18) released results from an internal investigation on the events leading up to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The company concluded that no single factor was responsible.
Domestic news was light, but there were reports that Goldman Sachs (GS 147.54 +2.33) is in talks with several firms about its Principal Strategies prop trading group. However, the nature of the talks may not lead Goldman Sachs to actually sell the unit. Strength in shares of GS helped drive investment bank and brokerages stocks to a 1.4% gain.
Regional banks were the strongest performers in the financial sector. The group rallied 2.5% after falling 3.9% in the prior session. Their rebound helped the financial sector tack on 1.1%, which was the biggest percentage gain of any of the major sectors in the S&P 500.
Utilities made up the only sector to settle in the red. They lost 0.5% after outperforming in the prior session.
Broad-based strength helped stocks remain strong into the close, though some afternoon volatility led the major indices to finish off of their highs with varied gains.
Economic data was generally inconsequential as stocks showed little reaction to the Fed's latest Beige Book, which is generally a collection of anecdotal data from the various Fed districts. One of the more notable takeaways from the Beige Book was that consumer spending has increased, on balance. However, discretionary purchases continue to be governed by caution.
Consumer credit data was released at the close. After falling $1.0 billion in June, July data showed that credit fell another $3.6 billion. Consumer credit has tightened for six straight months and in 17 of the last 18 months.
A $21 billion auction of 10-year Notes drew a yield of 2.67%, which is below what had been anticipated, but the bid-to-cover proved strong at 3.2. The indirect bidder participation take of 54.7% was the best since September 2009.
Participation on the part of traders remains extremely unimpressive. Specifically, this was the fourth straight session that share volume on the NYSE failed to break 1 billion. That has helped drag down the 50-day moving average to less than 1.1 billion shares. Just two months ago the 50-day moving average for trading volume on the NYSE stood at 1.5 billion.
Advancing Sectors: Financials (+1.1%), Industrials (+1.0%), Energy (+0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.7%), Materials (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.6%), Health Care (+0.5%), Tech (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%)
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.5%)DJ30 +46.32 NASDAQ +19.98 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +0.8% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +7.03 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1725/2.03 bln/882 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2082/879 mln/896
8:30AM IEC Electronics announces $5.6 mln award; updates additional orders (IEC) 4.75 : Co announces order valued $5.6 mln. Delivery to commence 11/1/10 in co's 1Q11. Co also announces that two months ago they received a $6.1 mln order from a Military and Defense customer. Additionally last week we announced a meaningful order of $5.1 mln from a second Military and Defense customer. Generally customer orders are in the range of $1-3 mln.
8:01AM Silicon Labs lowers Q3 rev guidance; issues downside Q3 EPS guidance (SLAB) 38.48 : Co lowers guidance for Q3 (Sep), sees EPS of $0.50-0.53, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.72 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 (Sep) revs of $118-122 mln vs. $139.50 mln Thomson Reuters consensus, down from $136-141 mln previously. Lowered guidance is due to broadening demand weakness primarily in customer premises equipment and consumer end markets. The slowing demand has particularly impacted the company's Access and Audio products. "In July, we guided the third quarter to be softer than usual, and the bookings in August got measurably weaker, reducing turns and making it clear that the near-term environment is deteriorating. Design win activity continues to be strong particularly with the new products we are ramping, which is an indication to us that the short-term demand issues do not fundamentally change our long-term growth prospects."
09:52 am SLAB Lowers Q3 Revs Guidance (SLAB)
Silicon Labs (SLAB 34.65 -3.83) lowers third quarter revenue guidance to $118 million to $122 million, well below the current $139.50 million Thomson Reuters consensus, down from $136 million to $141 million previously.
Also, the company issued earnings guidance of $0.50 to $0.53, excluding non-recurring items, versus $0.72 Thomson Reuters consensus.
Lowered guidance is due to broadening demand weakness primarily in customer premises equipment and consumer end markets. The slowing demand has particularly impacted the company's Access and Audio products.
The company said, "In July, we guided the third quarter to be softer than usual, and the bookings in August got measurably weaker, reducing turns and making it clear that the near-term environment is deteriorating. Design win activity continues to be strong particularly with the new products we are ramping, which is an indication to us that the short-term demand issues do not fundamentally change our long-term growth prospects."
Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) announces that it has received an order for multiple PrecisionWoRx VX4 Probe Card Test and Analysis Systems from a customer in Taiwan to facilitate capacity expansion...
7:31AM Microtune to be acquired for $2.92 per share in cash by Zoran Corp (ZRAN) or ~$166 mln (TUNE) 2.47 : Co announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Zoran Corporation for $2.92 in cash for each share of co's common stock, resulting in a transaction price of ~$166 mln, or $84 mln net of cash acquired. Zoran expects the acquisition to be accretive immediately following the close of the deal, which is expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2010. Zoran Corporation and Microtune, Inc. have scheduled a conference call for 7:00 a.m. PT today to discuss the acquisition.
1:35AM Cisco Systems and Westcon Group to pay US $48 mln to resolve false claims act allegations (CSCO) 20.58 : Co announces that they and their distributor Westcon Group, have agreed to pay the US government $48 mln to resolve allegations that it defrauded various federal government agencies, as alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2005 by the False Claims Act.
1:27AM Sunpower awarded $1.8 mln research grant from the California Solar Initiative RD&D Program (SPWRA) 11.29 : Co announces it will receive a grant of ~$1.8 mln from the California Solar Initiative Research, Development, Deployment and Demonstration Program. This grant will enable SPWRA to research photovoltaic energy storage for large commercial applications.
10:59 am ALTR Raises Q3 Revs Guidance (ALTR)
Altera (ALTR 26.66 +0.06) raised its third quarter revenue guidance to 10% to 14% growth above second quarter levels, which calculates to approx. $516.2 million to $535.0 million, well above the $497.8 million Thomson Reuters consensus, up from prior guidance for sequential growth of 4% to 8%, which calculates to $488.1 million to $506.8 million.
The company said, "Growth continues to be broad. It is likely that all four of the co's vertical markets will show sequential growth. The telecom and wireless vertical market is on track to be the fastest growing portion of the business, driven in large part by 3G wireless deployments and needs for additional wireless backhaul capacity."
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