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From Briefing.com: 5:11PM STMicroelectronics misses by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line with consensus (STM) 7.22 -0.08 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.00); revenues fell 22.7% year/year to $2.19 bln vs the $2.24 bln consensus. Based on current visibility, we believe bookings have bottomed. Co sees Q1 revs declining 4-10% sequentially, which equates to ~$2.0-2.1 bln vs. $2.06 bln CIQ Estimates. Looking to Q1, "we expect billings to bottom, as we see stronger than seasonal billings for ST's wholly-owned businesses offset by a very significantly weaker revenue performance from ST-Ericsson. Preliminary industry analysts' forecasts indicate that the overall semiconductor market should stabilize in 2012. For ST, we see the opportunity to continue to grow in selected markets during 2012 but we remain concerned about the macro-economic uncertainty. Consequently, we plan in the near-term to continue to maintain reduced levels of loading at our facilities. We will continue to focus on capital management, taking a prudent approach with respect to inventory levels and capital investments, with the goal of maintaining and expanding our free cash flow. Based largely upon a very significantly weaker sequential sales outlook for wireless, the co anticipates total revenues to sequentially decrease about 4-10% in Q1 of 2012. As a result, and reflecting an improved, but still high level of unsaturation at our facilities, gross margin in Q1 is expected to be about 33.0%, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

4:23PM Volterra Semi beats by $0.05, beats on revs (VLTR) 28.86 +0.15 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.30 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.25; revenues rose 9.1% year/year to $38.78 mln vs the $38.25 mln consensus.

4:30 pm : Things looked bullish in the early going, but a mid-morning reversal left stocks to spend the rest of the session slowly working their way back to the flat line.

Trade today opened on a flat note, but stocks were quickly bid up to a solid gain that resulted in a new multi-month high. However, stocks were unable to sustain the move, even as the euro displayed considerable strength.

The euro sported an impressive lead over the greenback for the entire session. The currency's climb to a near three-week high above $1.30 came amid heightened anticipation for revised measures to prevent a default by Greece. Although no new details were officially released, some speculate that Greece won't be getting any more money from the International Monetary Fund or the Eurozone.

Chatter related to the latter matter coincided with the stock market's pullback, possibly reflecting a mix of frustration and disappointment related to the drawn out process of shoring up conditions in Greece.

Early leaders, tech and financials were caught up in the stock market's slide. Both sectors were up about 1% at their session highs, but each retreated into the red alongside the broad market. They eventually fought back to book modest gains, but neither displayed the same leadership as what was exhibited shortly after the open.

End results were mostly mixed as defensive-oriented telecom traded down to a 0.8% loss and health care fell 0.5%, but utilities mustered a 0.3% gain. Consumer staples stocks slipped 0.2%, which is actually on par with the 0.2% loss and 0.3% loss that cyclical sectors like consumer discretionary and industrials shed, respectively.

No economic data was released today and only a dearth of earnings announcements was made ahead of the open. Halliburton (HAL 35.44, -0.76) was the most widely held name in the handful of companies that announced. Although the oil and gas services play posted an upside earnings surprise, its shares still wrestled with selling pressure all session, even as the rest of the energy sector worked its way to a 0.7% gain, which is bettter than what any other group achieved.

Share volume was paltry once again, barely coming close to 1 billion on the NYSE Big Board. Although it is easy to blame the lack of participation on the absence of news flow and economic data, apathy has been a recurring theme for a few months.

Advancing Sectors: Energy +0.7%, Tech +0.4%, Financials +0.3%, Utilities +0.3%
Declining Sectors: Telecom -0.8%, Health Care -0.5%, Industrials -0.3%, Consumer Staples -0.2%, Consumer Discretionary -0.2%, Materials -0.1% DJ30 -11.66 NASDAQ -2.53 NQ100 +0.00% R2K -0.2% SP400 +0.00% SP500 +0.62 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1110/1.68 bln/1350 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1756/723 mln/1259

9:01AM QLogic announces definitive agreement to sell InfiniBand assets to Intel (INTC) for $125 mln; Sale expected to close within this quarter (QLGC) 16.55 :

8:57AM Research In Motion gives up entire pre-mkt gain on new CEO announcement, now -3% at 16.50 (RIMM) 17.00 : See multiple RIMM comments in archive for additional details on CEO news and conference call coverage.

5:47AM Research In Motion names Thorsten Heins President and CEO; Mike Lazaridis named Vice Chair of the Board (RIMM) 17.00 : Co announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-CEO to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and CEO. Heins was also appointed to RIM's Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately. On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, "There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now. With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond. Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins."

Mattson Technology (MTSN) announced that it has shipped its Millios millisecond annealing system to another major foundry.

11:48 am S&P Tech Sector Up Slightly, Outperforming S&P 500
The tech sector is trading slightly higher today, just ahead of gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness in the tech space, however, with the Philly Semi Index trading 0.1% lower. RBCN (+4.0%) is a standout, while VECO (-2.5%) is a notable laggard in the chip index. Among other major indices, the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, and the QQQ are trading 0.1% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (+1.8%) and AAPL (+1.5%) are showing strength, while VZ (-1.5%) is a notable underperformer.

In earnings, IRF (-1.7%) lowered guidance this morning. In news, RIMM (-6.4%) named Thorsten Heins as President and CEO, unseating incumbent Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

Among rumors, we are hearing CSCO (-0.8%) for FNSR (-1.5%) takeover chatter making the rounds.

Among notable analyst upgrades this morning, RIMM (-6.4%) was upgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank. Among downgrades, FBR Capital downgrades CNQR (-2.7%) to Mkt Perform, ARW (-2.2%) and AVT (-1.4%) were downgraded to Outperform at Raymond James, Stifel Nicolaus downgrades MFLX (-3.0%) to Hold, RIMM (-6.4%) was downgraded to Hold at ThinkEquity, and HRS (-0.3%) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays.

STM (0.0%), VMW (-2.4%), WDC (-1.1%), and TXN (-1.3%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report results today after the close.

Research In Motion (RIMM $15.86 -1.14) announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-CEO to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and CEO. Heins was also appointed to RIM's Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately. On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, "There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now. With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond. Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins."

Rimage (RIMG $11.47 -1.71) announced that it sees Q4 non-GAAP EPS of ($0.12)-(0.14) (including Qumu transaction costs but ex-the amortization of intangibles) versus the ($0.02)-0.01 previously, may not compare to the $0.11 GAAP Capital IQ single estimate. The company sees GAAP EPS of ($0.15)-(0.17)], while revs to $22 million from $24-26 million versus the $24.80 million Capital IQ single estimate. The company also announced that it expects to generate cash from operations in the fourth quarter. In addition, through its quarterly dividend and stock repurchase activities, it returned almost $4 mln back to shareholders during the fourth quarter.

Jive Software (JIVE $15.32 +0.07) was initiated with a Outperform and price target of $20 at BMO Capital Markets The firm notes that Jive shares trade at a 27% premium to the IPO price of $12 and now command an enterprise value to projected 2012 revenue multiple of about 9x, at the high end of the software spectrum. While the stock is hardly cheap, they conclude that it will be able to sustain its valuation multiple as long as the company delivers billings growth at or above a 35%-40% range. They believe that it can.

Brigantine raises their Apple (AAPL $427.08 +6.78) target to $500 from $450. Thursday last week Apple launched new software targeting text books and the education market, a historically strong vertical for the company and a market that has strangely avoided the benefits of digitalization that have revolutionized almost every other industry. Meanwhile, competitors in the smartphone space have noted serious divots in CY4Q sales volumes that the firm suspects may have been won by the new 4S and lower prices on older model iPhones. On that basis, the firm is modestly adjusting estimates up in advance of Apple's earnings report tomorrow.