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From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : The broader market was dropped for a loss of more than 1% amid another bounce by the dollar, but some late session support helped stocks stage a strong swing higher into the close.

Speculation that any future measures of quantitative easing might be applied gradually or be smaller in scope than had been hoped propped up the dollar today. Its strength over competing currencies sent the Dollar Index up 0.5%, so that it is now up almost 3% from the 2010 low that it set less than two weeks ago.

Strength in the dollar overshadowed the latest round of earnings announcements, which were generally upbeat. In turn, participants actually drove the stock market down to a loss of more than 1% before an afternoon rally slashed losses and actually gave the Nasdaq a gain.

Strength in the Nasdaq was mostly owed to semiconductor stocks following better-than-expected earnings and strong guidance from Broadcom (BRCM 41.56, +4.34), which hit a new 52-week high and helped drive the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index 3.1% higher.

Comcast (CMCSA 20.27, +0.63) also provided leadership to the Nasdaq after it announced an upside earnings surprise of its own, but the broader market's reaction to other reports was less consistent.

Both Whirlpool (WHR 81.04, -3.48) and ConocoPhillips (COP 60.08, -0.74) posted upside earnings surprises, but each stock sold off while a bottom line beat by Northrop Grumman (NOC 61.38, +0.03) was met with indifference. Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 63.08, +0.22) also beat on the bottom line, but it only attracted sustainable support into the close.

A positive earnings surprise from Aflac (AFL 56.39, +1.20) took shares of the insurer to a new 52-week high and provided leadership to financials, which mustered a 0.1% gain. It was the second best performing sector behind technology, which climbed 0.4%.

Of the sectors that logged losses, materials were hit the hardest. As a group they fell 0.9%, most of which was the result of a 2.7% loss among diversified metals and miners.

Data did little for stocks this session. Durable goods orders for September increased 3.3%, which is much better than the 1.8% increase that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com, but after excluding transportation, orders actually fell 0.8%, which contrasts with the consensus call for a 0.2% increase.

New home sales for September increased 6.6% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 307,000 units, which is greater than the rate of 299,000 units that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Widespread weakness had the Volatility Index up more than 10% to trade near its 50-day moving average for the first time in about three weeks, but the stock market's late session run caused volatility to cool. In turn, the Volatility Index was up about 4% at the close of trade.

Even in the face of higher volatility and sizable losses among stocks, Treasuries never found support. In fact, pressure was so stiff in that space that the yield on the 10-year Note climbed to a one-month high of 2.72%, which is about where the Note closed.

For the second straight session Treasuries failed to find support in the wake of an auction of Notes. This time $35 billion in 5-year Notes were up for grabs. The auction drew a yield of 1.33% on a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.8 and an indirect participation rate of 39.5%.

6:36PM Teradyne beats by $0.03, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (TER) 11.89 +0.14 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.82 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.79; revenues rose 91.5% year/year to $502.1 mln vs the $508 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.21-0.28 vs. $0.59 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $300-325 mln vs. $447.40 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

5:27PM Broadcom prices $300 mln aggregate principal amount of 1.5% senior notes due 2013 and $400 mln aggregate principal amount of 2.375% senior notes due 2015 (BRCM) 41.56 +4.34 : Co announces that it increased the size of its previously announced private offering of senior notes. Co priced $300 million aggregate principal amount of 1.5% senior notes due 2013 and $400 mln aggregate principal amount of 2.375% senior notes due 2015. The senior notes were offered to qualified institutional buyers. The sale of the senior notes is expected to close on or about November 1, 2010.

4:24PM Power Integrations beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs in-line (POWI) 33.89 +0.71 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.53 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 25.8% year/year to $75.5 mln vs the $74.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $67-73 mln vs. $73.53 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:14PM Integrated Silicon misses by $0.06, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; co authorizes additional $20 mln stock buyback program (ISSI) 9.25 +0.23 : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.06 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 58.6% year/year to $73.6 mln vs the $77.4 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.30-0.36 vs. $0.45 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $68-72 mln vs. $76.80 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:12PM TriQuint Semi beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs in-line (TQNT) 10.30 +0.47 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.27 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.26; revenues rose 37.0% year/year to $237 mln vs the $236.1 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.26-$0.28 vs. $0.26 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $245-$255 mln vs. $243.29 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. The company is 91% booked to the midpoint of rev guidance. For Q4, the co expects that strong growth in the mobile devices market will lead to a non-GAAP gross margin between 41% and 42%. Looking to 2011, the co believes continued robust growth in demand should lead to revenue growth of about 20%

4:10PM Newport beats by $0.09, beats on revs; guides FY10 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (NEWP) 13.29 +0.72 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.34 per share, $0.09 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.25; revenues rose 41.8% year/year to $125.2 mln vs the $119.1 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for FY10, sees EPS to exceed $1.00 vs. $0.91 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY10 revs of ~$475 mln vs. $466.86 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co said, "we are confident that we are well positioned to achieve continued revenue and earnings growth in 2011."

4:09PM LSI Logic beats by $0.02, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (LSI) 4.74 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.11; revenues rose 8.8% year/year to $629 mln vs the $640.3 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.10-0.16 vs. $0.13 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q4 revs of $635-665 vs. $675.30 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:04PM Plexus beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (PLXS) 33.59 +0.34 : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.65 per share, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.60; revenues rose 41.4% year/year to $555.6 mln vs the $545.4 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.56-0.62, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.61 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $550-580 mln vs. $566.33 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:02PM Flextronics beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (FLEX) 6.40 +0.03 : Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.23 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.20; revenues rose 27.3% year/year to $7.42 bln vs the $7.01 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.23-0.25 vs. $0.22 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $7.5-7.7 bln vs. $7.44 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

2:58PM NASDAQ 100 (NDX) strength & weakness- Semis (BRCM, MRVL, LRCX) continue to lead the index, now trading in positive territory on the heels of strong earnings & guidance from BRCM (BRCM) :

9:52AM Semiconductor Hldrs continues to outperform, provides leadership for Nasdaq 100 +0.6, Nasdaq Comp -0.4 (SMH) 28.86 +0.18 : The SMH has reached a new session high of 28.89 leaving it just under Monday's peak and the top end of the broad multi-month range at 28.94/29.04 -- BRCM +7.7%, ALTR +0.7%, ADI +0.6%, AMAT +0.3%, KLAC +0.6%, LLTC +0.2%, SNDK +0.4%, XLNX +0.8%.

8:06AM Silicon Labs beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs below consensus (SLAB) 39.02 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.53 per share, $0.01 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.52; revenues fell 4.5% year/year to $120.2 mln vs the $120.4 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $105-110 vs. $121.64 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "While this retreat in revenue is uncharacteristic, we believe the fourth quarter represents a trough, and the composition of the business that will emerge in 2011 will be even more growth oriented... We're very optimistic about progress in our emerging video product line and continue to view our Broad-based business as a strategic growth engine in 2011 and beyond."

Mattson Technology (MTSN) announced that its Millios system has been selected for joint projects with CNT's leading IC partners for the development of advanced millisecond anneal applications at the 3X nanometer technology nodes and below.

Broadcom (BRCM) announced the availability of its BCM6818 Gigabit Passive Optical Network based residential gateway system-on-a-chip solution...

07:25 am JinkoSolar Holding upgraded to Buy at Auriga U.S.A; tgt raised to $37: . Auriga U.S.A upgrades JKS to Buy from Hold and raises their tgt to $37 from $32 noting last night the company announced a follow-on offering of 2 million shares that is just less than 10% dilutive to current shareholders. Given the increased capital, management will be ramping capacity to 1 GW by the end of 2011, which increases shipments, revenue, and EPS substantially.