Sector Investing

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks saw a string of strong performances come to an end as participants applied pressure amid a strong jump by the dollar. Commodities also succumbed to concerted selling interest.

Over the course of the past three sessions the stock market displayed impressive resilience as it generated enough momentum to climb more than 1%. However, concerns about higher interest rates and the fiscal state of Greece tested the conviction of recent market participants. Suspicion that higher interest rates may be forthcoming were underpinned by news that China saw a 5.3% increase in consumer prices and that the Bank of England expects consumer prices to climb above its targeted 2.0% rate and remain there through 2012.

The dollar still won support, though. Its strength came amid concern about what may be needed to prevent a default by Greece. The greenback was able to build on its gain against the euro so that the Dollar Index ended the trading day with a 1.0% gain.

Neither stocks nor commodities could attract meaningful support. In turn, the major equity averages all fell close to 1% while the CRB Commodity Index dropped to a 3.0% loss.

The combination of broad market weakness and lower commodity prices led the energy sector to suffer a 2.9% loss while the materials sector fell 2.7%.

Consumer staples stocks did a good job fending off sellers, though. The sector settled just 0.1% lower. At the individual level, Teva Pharma (TEVA 48.65, +1.51) and Macy's (M 28.36, +2.03) outperformed. Both company's posted upside earnings surprises for the latest quarter, but Macy's complemented its report with an improved forecast word that it has doubled its dividend to $0.10 per share.

Treasuries were able to attract buying interest today. They were helped by results from an results from a 10-year Note auction, which drew a bid-to-cover of 3.00, dollar demand of $72.0 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 42.7%. The benchmark 10-year Note gained about a half point.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-2.9%), Materials (-2.7%), Financials (-1.3%), Industrials (-1.1%), Telecom (-0.9%), Tech (-0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.8%), Health Care (-0.3%), Utilities (-0.2%), Consumer Staples (-0.1%)DJ30 -130.33 NASDAQ -26.83 NQ100 -0.8% R2K -1.8% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -15.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 614/2.27 bln/2021 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 476/977 mln/2599

4:36PM Mattson and Mesocoat announce exclusive supply agreement (MTSN) 1.87 -0.35 : The co and MesoCoat announced that the two companies have agreed to an Exclusive Supply Agreement that grants MesoCoat access to Mattson's ultra-high-intensity Vortek arc lamp system. MesoCoat will use the lamps, which generate an extremely high intensity of focused light, in the production of its high-performance nanocomposite cladding solutions for an estimated $3.8 billion worldwide metal cladding market.

4:18PM Tessera Tech announced the co's Board of Directors appointed Robert A. Young, Ph.D., as president and chief executive officer; Robert Boehlke will become Chairman (TSRA) 18.91 -0.35 : Mr. Young is currently a member co's Board of Directors. Henry Nothhaft resigned today as the co's president and chief executive officer to pursue his advocacy of smart innovation policies in Washington, as presented in his recently-released book Great Again - Revitalizing America's Entrepreneurial Leadership (Harvard Business Press). Mr. Nothhaft will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors until May 20, 2011, shortly before the company's upcoming 2011 annual meeting of stockholders, and will remain in a non-executive advisory role to assist co with various endeavors thereafter. Robert Boehlke will succeed Nothhaft as chairman. Boehlke is currently a member of co's Board of Directors. Mr. Young has served as a member of co's board of directors since its inception in 1991. He has had a broad career including 17 years at IBM Corporation, where he held various executive positions. Subsequently, Mr. Young served as the managing partner of Dillon, Read & Co., Inc.'s venture capital operation before serving as Dillon, Read & Co.'s head of Technology Banking.

4:10PM Flextronics and MEMC expand partnership to produce solar panels for SunEdison (FLEX) 7.00 -0.07 : FLEX and MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) announced the expansion of an agreement between Flextronics and MEMC's affiliate, MEMC Singapore, to produce solar panels for MEMC's SunEdison subsidiary. This partnership expansion includes the production of solar panels from Flextronics' Clean Tech Supersite in Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia. The MEMC-branded solar panels will be used by SunEdison for its solar photovoltaic projects. This announcement follows an earlier agreement between the two companies signed in December 2010 under the terms of which Flextronics will manufacture solar PV panels for MEMC from its Newmarket, Ontario facility. Through the expansion announced today, Flextronics expects to build approximately 270 megawatts of solar panels annually for SunEdison in Malaysia.

4:09PM Cisco Systems beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line (CSCO) 17.78 -0.01 : Reports Q3 (Apr) earnings of $0.42 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.37; revenues rose 4.8% year/year to $10.87 bln vs the $10.86 bln consensus; non-GAAP gross margin of 63.9% vs. the 62.0% consensus. Cash flows from operations were $3.0 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2011, compared with $2.6 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2011, and compared with $3.0 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2010. Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $43.4 billion at the end of the third quarter. Cisco repurchased 54 million shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $18.39 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $1.0 billion in Q3. "This quarter played out as we expected. We have acknowledged our challenges. We know what we have to do. We have a clear game plan, and we are a company with a track record of market-shaping innovation. We thank our shareholders, employees, customers and partners as we transition to the next phase of Cisco."

4:08PM Canadian Solar misses by $0.28, beats on revs (CSIQ) 9.80 -0.46 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.28 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.41; revenues rose 31.6% year/year to $443.4 mln vs the $423.5 mln consensus; Gross margin was 14.7%, compared to 17% in Q4 and 12.4% in 1Q10. Solar module shipments for the first quarter of 2011 totaled 244 MW, compared to shipments of 185 MW for the first quarter of 2010. Sales to European markets in the first quarter of 2011 accounted for 75.7% of revenue, while sales to North America represented 12.2% and to Asia and others regions represented 12.2% of revenue, compared to 88.5%, 5.7% and 5.8%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2010. Accounts receivable balance at the end of the first quarter 2011 was $306.7 million, up from $169.7 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010 and $224.3 million at the end of the first quarter of 2010. For the second quarter of 2011, shipments are expected to be in the range of approximately 245 MW to 255 MW, with gross margin expected to be between 13% and 15%. The Company remains on track to expand its annualized capacity for solar cells to 1.3GW, and annualized capacity for modules to 2 GW, both by mid-2011. The new module capacity includes 200MW in Guelph, Canada, to provide Ontario-content qualified solar modules to the Company's downstream solar projects and customers in Ontario. For the full year 2011, the Company reiterates its previous guidance of shipments of approximately 1.2 GW to 1.3 GW. continued: "We have seen significant declines in raw materials costs so far in Q2, including lower costs for polysilicon, wafer and cells, which we expect to help lessen the impact of expected declines in module ASP.

9:05AM Mattson prices its 6.8 mln share common stock offering at $1.80 per share (MTSN) 2.21 :

9:01AM Intel announces 16 percent increase in quarterly cash dividend (INTC) 23.03 : Co announces that its board of directors has approved a 16 percent increase in the quarterly cash dividend to 21 cents per share (84 cents per share on an annual basis), beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the third quarter of 2011.

8:33AM Sanmina-SCI calls for full redemption of 6-3/4% senior subordinated notes due 2013 (SANM) 12.01 :

Silicom Ltd. (SILC) announced that it has achieved two important Design Wins for Networking Modules, a product line that Silicom developed as a part of its SETAC Server-to-Appliance Converter strategy. Silicom expects that its sales of such products to the two customers will total ~$3 million per year.

# Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AEIS), announced that its 500kW Solaron PV inverters have achieved a 98 percent efficiency rating from the California Energy Commission, a record breaking efficiency rating for any inverter in this power class.

# microchipDIRECT, the direct source of products from Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) and Microchip third parties, announced that it has expanded inventory to further support its customers in these uncertain times. Inventory for microchipDIRECT customers has increased 300% during the last nine months, in its e-commerce warehouse.

Sierra Wireless (SWIR)announced that EDMI has selected the Sierra Wireless AirPrimeSL6087 embedded wireless module to provide cellular connectivity for EDMI's new plug-and-play modular pod-based system that is integrated into the Mk7B smart single-phase electronic revenue meter.

AMD (AMD) announced a collaboration with Acceleware whereby the companies will deliver professional training programs to help developers learn how to create applications that comply with OpenCL standards.