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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : A loss of excitement for Ireland's financial aid request left the stock market to drop more than 1%, but technical support provided a base for a rebound that helped the broader market slash its loss and the Nasdaq Composite stage a nice gain.

Officials from Ireland announced during the weekend a request for financial aid from the European Union as part of an effort to sturdy its tenuous financial state. Nothing official has been put forth, but most estimates point toward a plan that will feature something on the order of 100 billion euros.

Global participants initially reacted to the announcement by boosting the euro and giving European bourses a strong start to the week, but attention was quickly diverted to the persisting problems of Portugal and Spain. That left Europe's equities to roll over and the euro to drop against the dollar.

At its overnight low the dollar was down 0.7%, but it swung to a gain of about 0.4% at its session high. It gave up part of that gain so that at the close of trade it was only up 0.2% against a basket of competing currencies. The dollar's rebound from its overnight low and the recognition that ineffective fiscal practices continue to trouble countries in the EU periphery caused stocks to come under a broad wave of selling. The effort took both the Dow and the S&P 500 down more than 1%.

Just as was the case in Europe, financials were the weakest performers and undermined broader market action. At its low the financial sector was down more than 2%, but it finished with a 1.4% loss. Goldman Sachs (GS 161.05, -5.62) was one of the hardest hit, no thanks to news of trading probes at a couple of hedge funds.

The financial sector was helped by a broader market rebound that began after support for the S&P 500 held in the 1184 to 1186 area.

Tech, the largest sector in the S&P 500 by market weight, provided a helping hand in the move. The sector showed leadership as it worked its way to a 0.6% gain. Most of that move was owed to strength in semiconductor stocks like SanDisk (SNDK 42.57, +2.59), which set a three-month high after an analyst upgrade, and Broadcom (BRCM 44.17, +0.95), which hit a four-year high after it announced a definitive agreement to acquire Gigle Networks for approximately $75 million.

The afternoon climb helped volatility cool, such that the Volatility Index was up just 3% at the close after it was up more than 10% during the day.

Trading volume was lackluster on the NYSE. Though some key economic releases in coming days will likely attract some participation, overall share volume in coming days will likely lack due to the holiday shortened week -- U.S. markets will be closed Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving and Friday will be a half day.

Treasuries saw some seesaw action as well today. The benchmark 10-year Note ran into some pressure after results from an auction of 2-year Notes showed a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.70, dollar demand of $129.5 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 38.3%. For comparison, the average for the past three auctions holds a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.44, dollar demand of $123.9 billion, and indirect bidder participation of 36.1%.

Advancing Sectors: Tech (+0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%), Utilities (+0.2%), Materials (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-1.4%), Energy (-0.4%), Telecom (-0.3%), Industrials (-0.3%), Consumer Staples (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Health CareDJ30 -24.82 NASDAQ +13.90 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.7% SP500 -1.88 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1336/1.85 bln/1303 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1520/917 mln/1453

4:10PM Hewlett-Packard beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY11 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (HPQ) 43.25 +0.76 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $1.33 per share, $0.06 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $1.27; revenues rose 8.1% year/year to $33.28 bln vs the $32.75 bln consensus. HPQ reports Q4 operating margins of 12.0%, in-line with Thomson Reuters consensus of 12.0%. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $1.28-1.30 vs. $1.22 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $32.8-33.0 bln vs. $32.74 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co raises guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $5.16-5.26 vs. $5.11 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $132.0-133.5 bln vs. $132.41 bln Thomson Reuters consensus (prior guidance was for FY11 EPS of $5.05-5.15; revs of $131.5-133.5 bln). Co cites "Broad-based year-over-year growth in the commercial segment driven by ESS growth of 25% and growth in commercial PC Clients and Printers of 20% and 22%, respectively, in the fourth quarter."

4:05PM Analog Devices also authorized the repurchase of an additional $1 billion of common stock (ADI) 35.96 +0.78 :

4:04PM Analog Devices beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs in-line; authorizes additional $1 bln stock repurchase (ADI) 35.96 +0.78 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.73 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.70; revenues rose 34.7% year/year to $770 mln vs the $755.8 mln consensus. Q4 gross margin of 67.0% vs. the 66.6% consensus. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.63-0.67 vs. $0.63 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $715-740 mln vs. $728.36 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "Our book-to-bill ratio for the fourth quarter, as measured by end customer bookings, was below one as customers began to lower their inventories in response to shortened industry lead-times. During the fourth quarter, order patterns at ADI weakened in late August and September, but substantially recovered in October. Overall, customer feedback indicates that end demand remains strong in most end markets. In this environment, we would expect to operate with less backlog and higher turns during the first quarter." The Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of an additional $1 bln of common stock under ADI's existing share repurchase program.

4:00PM RF Monolithics announces two-year extension of ViewPoint Bank Credit Facility for $5 mln senior secured credit facility (RFMI) 1.19 -0.05 :

8:02AM Broadcom to Acquire Gigle Networks; expects the acquisition to be dilutive by ~$0.01 per share in 2011 (BRCM) 43.22 : Co announces it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Gigle Networks. In connection with the acquisition, Broadcom expects to pay approximately $75 million to acquire all of the outstanding shares of capital stock and other rights of Gigle Networks. Additional consideration of up to $8 million in cash will be reserved for future payment to the former holders of Gigle Networks capital stock and other rights upon satisfaction of certain performance goals. Excluding any purchase accounting related adjustments or fair value measurements that are not estimable at this time, Broadcom expects the acquisition of Gigle Networks to be dilutive by approximately $0.01 per share in 2011.