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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Listless trade left stocks to spend the afternoon stuck in a tight range before a late fit of selling threatened to undercut the major averages. Stocks settled mixed.

Yesterday the stock market dove 1.6% for its fourth straight loss and worst decline in three months. But participants were slow to wade back into the waters of the equity market, especially amid lingering concerns about tighter monetary policy in China and the tenuous state of Ireland's finances. Though China's State Council announced price control guidelines to reassure consumers facing rising inflation and Ireland's Finance Minister will meet with officials from the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund, participants showed restraint.

Broader market advances were limited so that the S&P 500 was kept within a three-point trading range for almost the entire afternoon. An absence of legitimate leadership helped sustain the range bound trade.

Of the major sectors, consumer discretionary fared the best. Its 0.7% advance was underpinned by strength among retailers. Target (TGT 55.62, +2.08) was a standout in its space as participants responded positively to its latest quarterly report. The stock booked its best percentage gain in about five months.

The discretionary sector was also helped by strength in automakers ahead of the initial public offering pricing of General Motors.

Financials were out of favor for the entire session. Their 0.6% loss made for the worst sector performance of the session. Diversified financial services (-1.5%) and regional banks (-1.7%) were the worst offenders in the sector.

Aware of the mixed underlying action and the broader market's inability to break free from the day's trading range, sellers attempted to apply some late pressure. Part of it came after a weaker-than-expected outlook from NetApp (NTAP 49.25, -3.44) was leaked ahead of its scheduled report. However, support surfaced to keep stocks from rolling over.

For the second straight day data had little meaningful impact on trade. Among the most recent reports, the Consumer Price Index for October increased 0.2% after a 0.1% increase in the prior month. It had been expected to increase 0.3% month-over-month. Core consumer prices for were flat for the second month in a row. The Briefing.com consensus called for a 0.1% increase for October.

Housing starts for October fell 11.7% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 519,000, which is less than the rate of 600,000 starts that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com. Building permits edged 0.5% higher to an annualized rate of 550,000, which is also less than the rate of 570,000 permits that had been expected.

Trading volume retreated from the robust amounts seen in the prior session. Today's tally on the NYSE did not even break 1 billion shares.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.7%), Energy (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.6%), Telecom (-0.2%), Utilities (-0.1%), Tech (-0.1%), Materials (-0.1%), Industrials (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Consumer StaplesDJ30 -15.62 NASDAQ +6.17 NQ100 +0.3% R2K +0.3% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +0.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1374/1.83 bln/1245 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1807/953 mln/1182

4:10PM Applied Materials beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (AMAT) 12.38 -0.08 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.36 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 88.9% year/year to $2.89 bln vs the $2.59 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.30-0.34, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.32 Thomson Reuters consensus; expects net sales to be down in the range of 8 percent to 15 percent quarter over quarter, equates to ~$2.46-2.66 bln vs. $2.62 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. "We are seeing strong momentum in our business as we enter 2011, fueled by accelerated innovation and market share gains... In 2010, Applied generated $1.7 billion in cash from operations after investing more than $1.1 billion in research and development."

3:38PM NetApp beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (stock is still halted -- no resumption time yet) (NTAP) 49.25 -3.44 : Reports Q2 (Oct) earnings of $0.52 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.49; revenues rose 32.6% year/year to $1.21 bln vs the $1.19 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.48-0.50, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.51 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $1.24-1.29 bln vs. $1.26 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. "NetApp produced 49% year over year growth in product revenue and our highest non-GAAP operating margin in over a decade, while simultaneously investing aggressively in our future."

9:14AM Emcore receives announces new $35 mln credit facility with Wells Fargo (EMKR) 1.25 : Co announces the establishment of a revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo (WFC). The asset-based credit facility provides for borrowings up to $35 mln for working capital requirements, letters of credit and other general corporate purposes.

6:32AM Suntech Power to acquire 375MV of wafer manufacturing capacity for ~$127 mln cash (STP) 8.34 : Co announces that it is in the process of acquiring 375MW of ingot and wafer slicing capacity in China. The wafer manufacturing capacity is being spun off from a subsidiary of Glory Silicon Technology Investments Limited, in which Suntech holds an equity investment. Suntech will acquire the remaining 70% shares of the capacity for a total cash consideration of ~$127 million, which is the total consideration after an offset of ~$80 million of liabilities owed to Suntech. Post the acquisition, Suntech will own 100% of the 375MW of wafer manufacturing capacity in China. Suntech will take operational control in the fourth quarter of 2010 and it is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings.

09:54 am STP Sees Q4 Shipments +10% QoQ (STP)

Suntech Power (STP 7.54 -0.80) reported third quarter earnings of $0.18 per share, $0.05 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.23.

Revenues rose 57.2% year-over-year to $743.7 million, above the $714 million consensus.

Consolidated gross margin 16.4% (cons: 17.6%). In 4Q10, STP expects at least 10% sequential growth in shipments.

Suntech targets to ship more than 1.5GW of solar products in 2010, representing year-over-year growth of at least 113%. Consolidated gross margin in the fourth quarter is expected to be approx. 17% (cons: 17.9%), which is based on an assumed exchange rate of 1.35USD to the Euro. GSF is in the process of constructing a further 140MW of projects, of which at least 80MW are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2010.