From Briefing.com: 5:05PM HP and Oracle reaffirmed their long-term strategic partnership and the resolution of litigation regarding Mark V. Hurd's employment at ORCL (HPQ) 39.39 +0.25 : Co announced while the terms of the settlement are confidential, Mr. Hurd will adhere to his obligations to protect HP's confidential information while fulfilling his responsibilities at ORCL. The agreement also reaffirms HP and Oracle's commitment to delivering the best products and solutions to their more than 140,000 shared customers.
4:49AM Oracle unveils new products at conference (ORCL) 27.48 : Co introduces 4 major products including: Exalogix, Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (co's preferred Linux platform) Exadata OLTP machine, and Fusion Applications (available in a controlled release in 1Q11).
3:26AM LDK Solar signs memorandum of understanding with national renewable energy laboratory (LDK) 8.02 : Co announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory for collaborative research and development activities related to silicon materials and photovoltaic devices.
2:49AM Finisar acquires Broadway Networks (FNSR) 17.53 : Co announces it it has acquired Broadway Networks for an undisclosed sum in an all-cash transaction. Co indicated that the acquisition is not expected to have a significant impact on revenue or earnings in the near term.
Lattice Semi (LSCC) announces low cost programmable SPI-4.2 solution...
4:30 pm : The S&P 500 pushed through technical resistance to set a fresh four-month high on Monday. There were no catalysts or headlines to account for the climb. Only a bullish bias among market participants underpinned the move.
Stocks made only modest gains in the early going. Most traders took their cues from Europe, where the major bourses staged strong gains as concerns about sovereign debt subsided. Early action was generally consistent with the relatively cautious trade that typically precedes an FOMC announcement, the latest of which will be released tomorrow afternoon.
Though no rate actions are expected tomorrow, many will look for changes in the verbiage of the actual the FOMC statement to give clues about where policy might be headed. The looming announcement comes after the National Bureau of Economic Research announced this morning that the recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009. Such a stretch made it the longest recession of any since World War II.
Amid an absence of market-moving headlines and uncertainty about the pace of the economic recovery and plans to support it, stocks still attracted enough support to push the S&P 500 through key resistance levels. The broad market index barely paused as it crossed through the top end of its summer trading range to reach its highest level since May. Momentum was helped by some short covering among those that thought resistance would hold.
Support was broad based with all 10 major sectors staging gains, but a 2.0% gain made financials the best performers of the day. Discover Financial (DFS 16.16, +0.59) was a leader in the sector after it posted better-than-expected earnings.
Lennar (LEN 15.14, +1.15) reported better-than-expected earnings of its own to help homebuilders rally ahead of September housing starts data, which is scheduled for release tomorrow morning. A 5.6% gain among homebuilders helped lift the consumer discretionary sector 1.9%.
The tech sector advanced 1.4% amid continued merger and acquisition activity, which includes news that IBM (IBM 131.79, +1.60) will acquire Netezza (NZ 28.27, +3.67) for $27.00 per share and L-1 Identity Solutions (ID 11.64, +1.94) will be acquired by Safran for $12.00 per share.
The tone of trade was decidedly positive this session, but the persistent lack of trading volume suggests that retail investors still are not completely on board.
Advancing Sectors: Financials (+2.0%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.9%), Energy (+1.7%), Telecom (+1.6%), Industrials (+1.5%), Tech (+1.4%), Health Care (+1.4%), Utilities (+1.3%), Consumer Staples (+1.0%), Industrials (+0.6%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +145.77 NASDAQ +40.22 NQ100 +1.7% R2K +2.9% SP400 +1.7% SP500 +17.12 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2151/2.00 bln/564 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2490/956 mln/560
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