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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Strong buying today gave the stock market its third straight gain. In that time the S&P 500 has marched nearly 4% higher, crossing above the 1250 line for the first time in more than two months.

Trade ahead of the open was somewhat subdued. Participants appeared neither surprised nor disappointed that officials from Europe failed to unveil the makings of a comprehensive plan intended to restore the health of the region's financial conditions. Monthly manufacturing and services reports from the eurozone were also mixed at best, but some took encouragement that China reported overnight an increase in manufacturing activity, as measured by the HSBC Manufacturing PMI.

Corporate news flow was somewhat limited. Among the more notable announcements, Dow component Caterpillar (CAT 91.77, +4.38) posted earnings that exceeded what Wall Street had expected. The industrial machinery outfit complemented the report with a strong earnings forecast. The stock climbed to a two-month high, but its strength couldn't carry the Dow as high as the other major equity averages.

The Nasdaq staged the strongest gains of the primary indices. Its outsized gain was helped along by tech stocks, which settled the session 1.9% higher. Some merger and acquisition activity helped inspire interest for tech issues. Shares of RightNow Tech (RNOW 42.94, +6.98) surged in response to news that it will be purchased for $43 per share, a premium of 20% over last Friday's closing price, by Oracle (ORCL 32.87, +0.75). Owners of ORCL applauded the move, bidding the stock up to a three-month high.

On a related note, CIGNA (CI 45.34, +0.64) announced that it will pay $55 for each outstanding share of HealthSystems (HS 53.71, +13.55). The offer represents a premium of about 40% above where HS settled last week. News of the planned acquisition sent shares of SXC Health Solutions (SXCI 43.37, -13.05) down sharply due to concerns that the company's business may no longer be needed by HealthSystems.

Commodities also climbed today, giving the CRB Commodity Index a 2.4% gain. The move was led by oil, which surged to a two-month high and settled pit trade with a gain of more than 4% at $91.27 per barrel.

The greenback gave up an early gain to end the day on a down note. It had only been up modestly this morning, but a bounce by the euro undercut the dollar and left it to trade 0.2% below a currency-weighted basket by day's end.

Advancing Sectors: Materials +2.3%, Financials +2.2%, Tech +1.9%, Industrials +1.7%, Health Care +1.4%, Consumer Discretionary +1.4%, Energy +1.2%
Declining Sectors: Utilities -0.4%, Consumer Staples -0.6%, Telecom -0.9%DJ30 +104.83 NASDAQ +61.98 NQ100 +2.1% R2K +3.3% SP400 +2.9% SP500 +15.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2095/1.89 bln/485 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2516/927 mln/519

4:46PM STMicroelectronics misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q4 revs below consensus (STM) 7.46 +0.05 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.09 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.10; revenues fell 8.1% year/year to $2.44 bln vs the $2.49 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $2.15-2.30 bln vs. $2.55 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Regarding guidance, co said, "Reflecting both revenue and a higher level of unsaturation at our facilities as we make further adjustments to reduce inventory, we anticipate a gross margin range of about 33.5%, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. We anticipate that 2011 will still be a year of revenue and operating income growth in several businesses, in particular Automotive and MEMS, despite the weaker second half. As evidenced by our year-to-date results, we continue to build on the progress achieved over the course of the last two years in expanding our customer base, introducing new products and focusing on our target growth markets."

4:34PM Texas Instruments beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (TXN) 31.69 +1.23 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.60 per share, excluding $0.09 in items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.57; revenues fell 7.3% year/year to $3.47 bln vs the $3.31 bln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.43-0.51, excluding $0.15 in non-recurring items, vs. $0.54 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $3.26-3.54 bln vs. $3.32 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. TI's third-quarter 2011 gross profit and operating profit were negatively impacted by costs associated with lower levels of factory utilization in the quarter as the company lowered production in response to weaker demand, as well as charges for inventory obsolescence on certain custom programs. These were partially offset by a net benefit resulting from proceeds from ongoing insurance claims associated with the March earthquake in Japan. The company used $450 million in the quarter to repurchase 14.1 million shares of its common stock and paid dividends of $148 million. "Our revenue for the third quarter was higher than we expected though, overall, the quarter was below the seasonal average. We expect the same in the fourth quarter as economic uncertainty continues to weigh on demand in almost every major market segment in which we operate. We are well prepared to continue to gain share in our core businesses, no matter the economic conditions."

4:17PM MIPS Technologies and Starboard reach agreement (MIPS) 5.27 +0.22 : Co announced it has reached an agreement with Starboard Value LP and its affiliates, which beneficially owns ~9.9% of the outstanding shares of MIPS' common stock. Under the agreement, MIPS has agreed to nominate to the MIPS Board two new directors recommended by Starboard, who are not employees of MIPS or Starboard.

4:09PM Volterra Semi beats by $0.03, misses on revs (VLTR) 23.48 +0.99 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.35 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.32; revenues fell 0.7% year/year to $41.3 mln vs the $43.4 mln consensus.

4:04PM Veeco Instruments beats by $0.21, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS, revs below consensus (VECO) 27.05 +1.61 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $1.33 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.21 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.12; revenues fell 3.2% year/year to $268 mln vs the $252.3 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.54-0.86, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.07 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $175-215 vs. $235.71 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "Our current expectation is orders will remain depressed for a few quarters. While there are many data points indicating that LED lighting is accelerating, weak backlighting demand continues to cause low factory utilization rates. While we do not know how long this slowdown will last, LED pricing declines will continue to stimulate demand for solid state lighting on a global basis." Veeco's third quarter bookings were $133 million, a decline of 57% sequentially. LED & Solar orders declined 59% sequentially to $112 million, with MOCVD orders at $103 million. Data Storage orders were $21 million, down 44% sequentially. The Company's Q3 2011 book-to-bill ratio was .50 to 1. Veeco recorded backlog adjustments of $34 million during the quarter. Veeco's quarter-end backlog was $389 million.

TSMC (TSM) announced that its 28nm process is in volume production and production wafers have been shipped to customers.

12:37 pm S&P Tech Sector Shows Notable Gains, Outperforms Broader Market (ORCL)
The tech sector is trading higher today, outpacing gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength in the tech space with the Philly Semi Index trading 3.3% higher. VECO (+5.5%) is a notable leader in that chip index. Among other major indices, the S&P 500 is trading 1.1% higher, while the NASDAQ is trading 2.2% higher The QQQ, meanwhile, is trading 2.0% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+3.0%) is a notable leader, while T (-1.0%) and VZ (-1.5%) are lagging.

In news, ORCL (+1.8%) announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire RNOW (+19.1%) for $43.00 per share. GOOG (+1.6%) is considering financing a deal with others to acquire YHOO (+2.8%), according to reports. Carl Icahn disclosed a 7.94% stake in WBMD (+11.3%) in 13D filing. Also, there were positive Barron's comments over the weekend on FIO (+14%), saying the co is a potential takeover target.

Among notable analyst research this morning, XLNX (+4.8%) was upgraded to Outperform at Pacific Crest and Brigantine downgraded AVNW (-6.7%) to Hold. Also, TLEO (+4.9%) was named a long Research Tactical Idea at Morgan Stanley.