From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Selling in the final minutes caused stocks to settle short of their session highs, but the major equity averages still managed to hold on for another gain.
Stocks extended their early morning slide in response to an abysmal Consumer Confidence Index for August. The Index had been generally expected to ease to 52 from just above 59, but slumped to 44.5, which is the worst reading since April 2009. It is suspected that the worse-than-expected reading was the result of stock market volatility, slow job growth, and concerns about the pace of the overall economic recovery.
Although there isn't any empirical evidence that connects consumer confidence with actual spending, participants used the report as an excuse to sell stocks. That sent the broad equity market down to a loss of more than 1%, but it didn't take long for buyers to scale back in. The stock market's move off of its morning low was rather choppy, though.
Minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting failed to have any meaningful impact on trade. They didn't offer any clues for plans of further stimulus, although the members of the Committee agreed monetary policy couldn't completely address the various strains on the economy.
Despite a general lack of leadership, stocks were still able to work their way up to a modest gain. The effort was challenged shortly before the toll of the closing bell, but stocks the major equity averages managed to hold on for varied gains -- the Nasdaq again outperformed its counterparts with help from Internet-related plays.
This session's gain marked the stock market's fifth advance in six sessions. During that time the S&P 500 has advanced 8%. It is still down 6% for August, though. As for the Nasdaq, it is up 10% in six sessions, but down 6.5% for the month. Meanwhile, the Dow has advanced almost 7% in the past six sessions, but is down 4.8% month to date.
Advancing Sectors: Telecom +1.0%, Industrials +0.8%, Materials +0.8%, Health Care +0.4%, Consumer Discretionary +0.4%, Tech +0.3%, Energy +0.3%, Consumer Staples +0.2%
Unchanged: Utilities
Declining Sectors: Financials -0.7%DJ30 +20.70 NASDAQ +14.00 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +0.5% SP400 +0.4% SP500 +2.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1324/1.86 bln/1204 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1910/1.02 bln/1084
1:54PM Zoran stockholders approve CSR merger for $6.26/share in cash and 0.589 ordinary shares of CSR (ZRAN) 8.23 +0.15 : Merger is expected to close on August 31, 2011 and trading of Zoran's common stock will be halted on Nasdaq before market open on August 31, 2011.
1:17AM STEC Inc authorizes an additional stock repurchase program of up to $40 mln of the co's common shares (STEC) 9.35 : This $40 mln stock repurchase program is in addition to the $15 mln of common shares repurchased earlier this month.
09:46 am LDK Solar downgraded to Hold at Needham: . Needham downgrades LDK to Hold from Buy. Firm notes while guidance implies higher revenue in both 3Q11 and 4Q11, they are concerned that falling prices will offset increased volume, limiting revenue growth. Additionally, they believe weaker gross margins coupled with higher expenses will result in more losses over the next few quarters. Longer-term, they believe co's strategy of integrating all parts of the solar value chain should enable competitive advantages over many peers but the slow ramp up of polysilicon production is preventing the co from fully realizing those benefits.
10:52 am S&P Tech Sector Trades Lower, In-line With The Broader Market (MSFT)
The tech sector is trading lower today, roughly inline with losses the broader market. Semiconductors are showing slight relative weakness in the tech space with the Philly Semi Index trading 1.1% lower. Among chips in the index, MU (-3.5%) is a notable laggard, while NVDA (+1.5%) is bucking the trend. Among other major indices, the S&P 500 is trading 0.9% lower, while the NASDAQ is trading 0.6% lower. The QQQ, meanwhile, is trading 0.5% lower. Among tech bellwethers, T (+0.8%) is showing relative strength, while CSCO (-1.9%) is under pressure.
There were no notable tech names that reported. In news, PANL (+1.8%) announced that it has entered into a technology license agreement with Panasonic Idemitsu OLED Lighting. Also, CLGX (+25.1%) formed a committee of independent directors to explore a wide range of options aimed at enhancing shareholder value including, but not limited to, cost savings initiatives, an evaluation of the company's capital structure, possible repurchases of debt and common stock, the potential disposition of business lines, the potential sale or business combination of the company and other alternatives.
Among notable analyst upgrades this morning, MIPS (+2.9%) was upgraded to Buy at Capstone and PTNR (--0.5%) was upgraded to Buy at Citigroup. Also, Ticonderoga wrote in a note that it's time for MSFT (+0.8%) to significantly raise its dividend. In downgrades, EMR (-2.7%) was downgraded to Hold at Argus.
There are no notable tech names set to report results today after the close.
Ticonderoga noted Microsoft (MSFT $26.19 +0.34) has a history of increasing its dividend during the month of September. They believe that Microsoft should and will once again raise its dividend after its board meeting in Sept. If MSFT were to match it peers on payout ratios, it would equate to a dividend yield increase to 6.0% from the current 2.6%, and include an approximate doubling of the co's dividend.
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