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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Aggressive selling pressure sent the stock market down about 4% before it began to bounce into the close. The loss still made for the market's worst one-day percentage drop in a month, though.

A weak finish on Wall Street yesterday and revived concerns about macro conditions, both economic and financial, sent the major global averages sharply lower overnight. That simply perpetuated selling pressure, resulting in a loss of almost 5% for the Global Dow Average, which closed at a new 52-week low.

According to reports, more than 100 stocks listed in the S&P 500 set fresh 52-week lows of their own today. Selling was generally indiscriminate, but natural resource plays suffered the most. As such, the materials sector and energy sector both fell more than 5%.

Weakness among natural resource plays was exacerbated by precipitous drops in commodity prices, such that the CRB Commodity Index fell more than 4% to a new 2011 low. Oil prices weighed most heavily as crude futures fell to $80.51 per barrel for a 6.3% loss, which makes for oil's largest single-session percentage drop since early August. Even gold failed to garner support; it settled with a loss of 3.8% at $1739 per ounce.

The extreme negativity took the Dow down some 500 points and the S&P 500 about 4% lower to set session lows with less than an hour before the closing bell. As if the bleeding wasn't already bad enough, the stock market even threatened to break down further as it slid below its 52-week closing low around the 1120 line. However, some late relief buying brought stocks back from what seemed like the brink of another leg of losses.

The need for safety sent the dollar up sharply. In fact, the Dollar Index climbed more than 1% to set a new multi-month high. Its gains were challenged in the afternoon when the euro was helped by a headline that suggested the European Union is seeking to recapitalize 16 banks. The dollar eventually reclaimed its gains.

Treasuries had an historical day in that the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note dropped to a record low near 1.70%. The Note ended the day more than a full point higher.

All of the action brought plenty of participants in from the sidelines. In turn, share volume on the NYSE climbed to more than 1.7 billion. This is backwards it should say Downside volume outnumbered advancing volume 50 to 1 on the Big Board. But even Briefing.com makes errors so here is their latest... RtS: Advancing volume outnumbered declining volume by more than 50-to-1 on the Big Board.

4:06PM TriQuint Semi lowers Q3 EPS guidance to $0.09-0.11 vs. $0.16 Capital IQ Consensus Estimates, down from $0.16-0.18; lowers revs guidance to $210-215 mln vs. $228.6 mln consensus, down from $225-235 mln (TQNT) 5.17 -0.22 : Co lowers Q3 guidance... Co said, "The reduction in expected revenue and profitability for Q3 is primarily the result of reduced demand from the Company's largest customer, weakness in the communications infrastructure market and softening demand from the China market. Product mix and costs associated with ramping new products are the largest drivers of the sequential reduction in non-GAAP gross margins. The co expects a return to strong sequential revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2011. No conference call will be held in conjunction with this financial outlook update."

4:05PM Hewlett-Packard confirms it has named Meg Whitman President and Chief Executive Officer (HPQ) 22.80 -1.18 : HPQ has confirmed that its board of directors has appointed Meg Whitman as president and chief executive officer. In addition, Ray Lane has moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman of the board of directors, and the board intends to appoint a lead independent director promptly. These leadership appointments are effective immediately and follow the decision that Leo Apotheker step down as president and chief executive officer and resign as a director of the company.

4:03PM Cavium Networks guides Q3 rev below consensus -- stock is halted (CAVM) 31.21 -2.06 : Co sees Q3 rev -4 to -6% QoQ to ~$67.3-68.7 mln vs $73.45 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The co expects that non-GAAP gross margins and non-GAAP operating expenses in the third quarter will be consistent with previous guidance. "Customer revenues have been weaker than expected this quarter, in the enterprise market as well as recognized software services revenue. Sales into the enterprise market were affected by a much larger than expected impact of a hub transition at one of our major customers as well as lower demand from other enterprise customers as they adjust their supply chain inventory due to the softer demand environment. However, we continue to experience high levels of design win activity across multiple product families and are confident that we are well positioned for the future."

12:39PM JinkoSolar Holding provides update on its facility in Haining City, Zhejiang province (JKS) 6.19 +0.43 : As previously reported, Zhejiang Jinko Co., Ltd. ("Zhejiang Jinko"), a subsidiary of JinkoSolar, suspects that a discharge of a small amount of solid waste containing fluoride into a nearby water channel may have occurred at its plant in Haining city. With the exception of one incident on May 11, 2011 related to the trial operation for their 100 MW expansion phase, which the co says is unrelated to the current event, the Haining Water Monitoring Department has never advised us that the quality of the effluent does not meet applicable standards. Other than the possible accidental release of fluoride in the August incident, no fluoride has been released into the environment. Although responsibility for the discharge is still under investigation by local government authorities, on September 7, the co agreed to pay compensation for the crop damage as well as for the death of any livestock and wildlife arising from the pollution incident, if any.

9:18AM Zarlink Semi: Microsemi (MSCC) to acquire Zarlink Semiconductor; amends offers to acquire all of the outstanding common shares and debentures of - Zarlink to CAD$3.98 per share and CAD$1,624.49 per CAD$1,000 principal amount of debentures, respectively (ZARLF.PK) 3.44 -0.03 : Zarlink's Board of Directors unanimously recommends Zarlink shareholders and debentureholders tender their shares or debentures to Microsemi's all cash increased offers. the acquisition will be Immediately accretive to Microsemi's non-GAAP earnings before synergies; expects $0.24 to $0.26 non-GAAP EPS accretion in FY2012. The total transaction value is ~US $525 mln, net of Zarlink's cash which is currently US $ 107 mln. The Amended Offers represent a 67% premium over the closing price of the Shares on the TSX and a 48% premium over the closing price of the Debentures on the TSX on July 19, 2011, the day prior to the initial public announcement of Microsemi's proposal to acquire Zarlink. For the September quarter, net sales for Microsemi are expected to increase from 3% to 5% sequentially. As of this date, Microsemi remains comfortable with its previously announced non-GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance for its fourth Fiscal quarter 2011 of $0.52 to $0.54 vs Capital IQ consensus of $0.53.

9:05AM First Solar announces Topaz Solar Farm Will Not Meet DOE Loan Guarantee Deadline (FSLR) 73.52 : Co announces the Topaz Solar Farm project will not meet the statutory deadline to receive a federal loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Topaz project meets the standards for inclusion in the loan guarantee program and received a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee from DOE on June 30, 2011, but there was insufficient time to process all requirements before the Sept. 30, 2011 deadline specified under Section 1705 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. First Solar is in advanced talks regarding the sale and financing of the project with potential buyers utilizing a different transaction structure that does not require a DOE loan guarantee. The 230 megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project and the 550 MW Desert Sunlight project, which also received conditional commitments from DOE for loan guarantees on June 30, remain in the DOE process.

11:29 am S&P Tech Sector Down Sharply; YHOO Upgraded (YHOO)

The tech sector is trading lower today, while the broader market is performing slightly worse. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness in the tech space with the Philly Semi Index trading 3.5% lower. Among chips in the index, NVDA (-7.0%) is a notable laggard, while VECO (+0.2%) is bucking the trend lower. Among other major indices, the S&P 500 is trading 2.9% lower, while the NASDAQ is down 2.7% and the QQQ are trading 2.4% lower. Among tech bellwethers, ORCL (-3.2%) and GOOG (-3.0%) are under notable pressure.

In earnings last night, RHT (+4.0%) posted a Q2 beat and INTU (-1.2%) reaffirmed. This morning, LOGI (-12.4%) lowered guidance.

Among notable analyst upgrades this morning, YHOO (+0.5%) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus and INTC (-1.0%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, Needham downgraded CMTL (-2.1%) to Hold. Also of note, YOKU (-8.3%) was removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman.

TIBX (+1.3%) is the notable name in tech set to report results today after the close.

11:19 am Leading Indicators Beats Expectations in August

The Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators Index increased 0.3% in August, down from 0.6% in July. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to increase 0.1%.

Since seven of the 10 components are known prior to the release, the differences between the consensus and the actual data normally come from the three estimated components: manufacturing orders, consumer goods; manufacturer orders, business capital; and M2 money supply.

In this case, the leading indicators remained positive and beat expectations based on extremely high growth in M2. This subindex accounted for 0.70 percentage points of growth in August, the largest contribution since September 2010. M2 has averaged a 0.08 percentage point contribution since the end of the recession.

Building permits also surpassed expectations earlier in the week (620K actual vs. 585K consensus). Since the consensus estimated the leading indicators using their forecasted building permits figure, the beat also contributed to the better-than-expected leading indicators level.

09:59 am FedEx Tops EPS And Revenue Expectations (FDX)

Fedex (FDX $65.27 -7.23) reported first quarter earnings of $1.46 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.45.

Revenues rose 11.3% year/year to $10.52 billion versus the $10.3 billion consensus.

The company issued in-line guidance for the second quarter, with EPS of $1.40-1.60 versus the $1.55 the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The company issued in-line guidance for fiscal year 2012. It lowered EPS to $6.25-6.75 from $6.35-6.85 versus the $6.36 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The capital spending forecast for fiscal 2012 remains $4.2 billion.

"The U.S. and global economy grew at a slower rate than we anticipated during the quarter. While FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight achieved improved operating results despite lower than expected growth, the more rapid decline in demand for FedEx Express services, particularly from Asia, outpaced our ability to reduce operating costs. We have slightly reduced our earnings forecast to reflect current business conditions and are aggressively working to adjust our cost structure to match demand levels." The co plans to begin acquiring FedEx common shares. A total of 5.7 million shares may be repurchased under existing share repurchase authorizations. FedEx Express will increase shipping rates by a net average of 3.9% for U.S. domestic, U.S. export and U.S. import services effective January 2, 2012.

09:55 am Consumer Discretionary Index Falls Along With Broader Market (NFLX)

The consumer discretionary group is faring modestly better than the broader market in early trade. The retail group is in the red with the Retail HOLDRS Trust (RTH) down 2.5% and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) down 3.2%. Trading higher following earnings/guidance: MLHR +6.7%, SCHL +4.3%... Trading lower following earnings/guidance: KMX -9.1%, MTN -5.5%, RAD -3.7%... Near unchanged mark following earnings/guidance: BBBY.

Other notable mentions: Construction homebuilders under pressure (XHB-3.6%): Standard Pacific (SPF -5.0%) and Lennar (LEN -4.4%) gapped down despite being upgraded before the open. SPF was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan and LEN was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup. Hovnanian Entrpr (HOV -3.7%) downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. PHM-7.1%, RYL-5.8%, DHI -5.2%, MTH -5.4%, MHO -4.7%, TOL -4.4% are also lower.

Analyst related: Netflix (NFLX +1.8%) was upgraded to Outperform at Wedbush and upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS. HJ Heinz (HNZ -1.2%) initiated with a Buy at Jefferies. Family Dollar (FDO flat) and Dollar General (DG flat) initiated with Buys at Guggenheim Securities. Steven Madden (SHOO -1.5%), DSW (DSW -2.8%), Deckers Outdoor (DECK -3.3%), lululemon athletica (LULU -4.5%) initiated with a Buy at Auriga. Skechers USA (SKX -3.6%) initiated with a Hold at Auriga. lululemon athletica initiated with a Buy at Argus. Tesla Motors (TSLA -1.7%) was initiated with a Outperform at Robert W. Baird. Walgreens (WAG -2.8%) and CVS Caremark (CVS -2.6%) initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank. Hershey Foods (HSY -1.8%) initiated with a Hold at Jefferies. Under Armour (UA -4.5%) was downgraded to Hold at Needham. Diamond Foods (DMND -3.8%) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies. Procter & Gamble (PG -2.4%) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at SunTrust. Urban Outfitters (URBN -3.5%) was downgraded to Underperform at Wedbush.

09:51 am Goodrich To Be Acquired By United Technologies (GR)

United Technologies (UTX $69.50 -5.36) announced it has reached agreement to purchase Goodrich (GR $120.40 +10.91) for $127.50 per share in cash.

This equates to a total enterprise value of $18.4 billion, including $1.9 billion in net debt assumed. United Technologies expects to finance the transaction through a combination of debt and equity issuance.

Following completion of the transaction, UTX is expected to have worldwide sales of approximately $66 billion based on projected 2011 results. UTX expects the transaction will be accretive to earnings in the second year.

Additionally, UTX reaffirms guidance for FY11 (Dec), sees EPS of $5.35-5.45 vs. $5.47 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY11 (Dec) revs of approximately $58 billion versus the $58.33 billion Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

09:42 am Initial Claims Level Declines

The initial claims level declined from 432,000 for the week ending September 10 to 423,000 for the week ending September 17.

The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to fall to 418,000.

There were no special circumstances affecting the jobless claims data this week. Since the week ending August 12, the initial claims level has remained above the 410,000 upper bound of our "Recovery Zone."

With claims above the upper bound, payroll gains in excess of the 100,000 necessary to support a stable unemployment rate are unlikely. It would not surprise us to see the unemployment rate tick higher in September. The continuing claims level fell from an upwardly revised 3.755 million (from 3.726 million) for the week ending September 3 to 3.727 million for the week ending September 10 and was in-line with consensus expectations.