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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Markets saw choppy action during today's eventful session. The Nasdaq fell by 0.7% while the S&P and the Dow shed almost 0.3% each. The morning started with a technical glitch at Knight Capital Group (KCG 6.94, -3.39) which caused nearly 150 stocks to behave erratically. After staying positive for the majority of the day, stocks returned to negative territory in light of the Federal Open Market Committee's Statement.

The FOMC decided to keep its target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 0.25%. It currently anticipates that "economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014."

The Committee said it will "closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability."

Economic data was mixed this morning with ADP Employment Change surprising to the upside while the ISM Index and construction spending disappointed.

The ADP National Employment Report indicated employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose 163K in July. This was above the 125K expected by the consensus. In addition, the previous month's reading was revised down to 172K from 176K.

The July ISM Index came in worse than expected at 49.8 vs. the 50.1 consensus estimate, and up slightly from June's 49.7 reading. June construction spending rose 0.4% month over month vs. the 0.9% expected by Briefing.com consensus.



Crude oil spent most of its pit session in an uptrend, getting a boost from the bullish inventory data that showed a draw of 6.5 million barrels when a draw of 1.0 million was anticipated. The energy component climbed to a session high of $89.49 per barrel, but then plummeted to a session low of $87.92 in reaction to the little-changed FOMC statement. Crude recovered the loss quickly and settled with a 1.0% gain at $88.97.

The euro turned down sharply following the FOMC announcement and ended at 1.2225 versus the dollar.

Today's selling pressure has had the biggest impact on the consumer discretionary sector. The S&P 500 component was down near 1%.

Frontier Communications (FTR 4.34, +0.42) was the best performing S&P 500 component. The company reported earnings of $0.08 per share which was $0.02 ahead of the consensus estimates. Revenues fell compared to last year, but at $1.26 billion, the number still came in ahead of the forecasted $1.25 billion. With an 11% advance, the stock is attempting to break out of a long-term down channel dating back to early 2011.

Genworth Financial (GNW 4.48, -0.56) was the main laggard, down 11%. The company missed earnings estimates by $0.02 while reporting revenue of $2.52 billion which was above the $2.5 billion consensus. The stock dipped to lows not seen since May of 2009.

Insurers MetLife (MET 30.43, -0.34) and Prudential (PRU 47.58, -0.70) were both down roughly 1.2% ahead of their after-hours releases. The consensus estimate calls for MetLife to earn $1.25 per share on revenues of $16.98 billion. Meanwhile, Prudential is expected to earn $1.54 per share on $10.64 billion in revenues.

In addition, Yelp (YELP 18.82, -1.14) is also scheduled for an after-hours earnings release. The stock was 5.7% lower ahead of its earnings with the company expecting to reveal a loss of $0.06 per share on revenues of $30.69 million.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England are scheduled to opine tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow's economic data includes Challenger Job Cuts at 7:30 AM ET, initial and continuing claims at 8:30 AM ET, and factory orders at 10 AM ET.DJ30 -32.55 NASDAQ -19.31 SP500 -4.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 758/1.69 bln/1932 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1238/1.03 bln/1980

4:25PM Hewlett-Packard issues statement in resopnse to propsed ruling in ongoing litigation with Oracle (ORCL) relating to the Intel Itanium platform (HPQ) 17.65 -0.58 : Co stated: "Today's proposed ruling is a tremendous win for HP and its customers. The Superior Court of the State of California, Santa Clara County, has confirmed the existence of a contract between HP and Oracle that requires Oracle to port its software products to HP's Itanium-based servers. We expect Oracle to comply with its contractual obligation as ordered by the Court." The Court found in favor of HP and against Oracle on both the breach of contract and promissory estoppel causes of action brought by HP.

4:17PM Rubicon Tech patent allowed for In-situ Crystal Orientation (RBCN) 10.51 +0.46 : Co announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has allowed Rubicon's patent application entitled, "Intelligent Machines and Process for Production of Monocrystalline Products with Goniometer Continual Feedback." The patent covers Rubicon's equipment and process developed to perform in-situ orientation of its sapphire crystals within the various fabrication tools used by the Company.

4:16PM First Solar reports Q2 (Jun) results, beats on revs; guides FY12 revs above consensus (FSLR) 14.80 -0.74 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $1.27 per share, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.92; revenues rose 79.5% year/year to $957 mln vs the $822.19 mln consensus. The second quarter of 2012 was impacted by pre-tax charges of $36 million (reducing EPS by $0.39), relating to restructuring and certain costs in excess of normal warranty. Co issues guidance for FY12, sees EPS of $4.20-4.70, may not be comparable to $3.88 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY12 revs of $3.6-3.9 bln vs. $3.47 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:08PM First Solar to develop 139 MW Campo Verde Solar Project (FSLR) 14.80 -0.72 : Co announced it is developing the 139 megawattAC (MW) Campo Verde Solar Project, located near El Centro in Imperial County, Calif. Campo Verde is expected to start construction in the third quarter of 2012 and be completed in 2013, creating about 250 construction jobs. San Diego Gas & Electric will purchase the project's output under a 20-year power purchase agreement, which was approved on May 24, 2012 by the California Public Utilities Commission.

4:15PM AXT misses by $0.02, beats on revs (AXTI) 3.43 -0.06 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues fell 16.3% year/year to $25.15 mln vs the $24.09 mln consensus. Co also says "... As we move into Q3, the demand environment appears to be more challenging, particularly in certain geographies. We are continuing to approach the current business environment with measured conservatism based on mixed industry data points and expect to see weaker than normal seasonal performance as a result. However, we have worked diligently to improve our operating structure and efficiency and are well-positioned with key customers in each of our markets. We view improving market conditions, new customer qualifications and a bottoming of raw material pricing as key catalysts for our growth later this year and beyond."

4:07PM FormFactor beats by $0.05, beats on revs (FORM) 5.82 -0.30 : Reports Q2 (Jun) loss of $0.08 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.13); revenues rose 17.6% year/year to $54.8 mln vs the $51.9 mln consensus.

4:06PM Extreme Networks reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (EXTR) : Reports Q4 (Jun) earnings of $0.08 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 2.4% year/year to $87.6 mln vs the $84.43 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.01-0.05, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.07 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $75-82 mln vs. $79.80 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:02PM Cirrus Logic Appoints Al Schuele as Chairman of the Board of Directors (CRUS) 35.91 -0.86 : Mr. Schuele was first elected to co's Board of Directors in July 2011. Schuele has been a general partner since 2000 with Sevin Rosen Funds, a high tech venture capital firm, and is currently a director of Javelin Semiconductor.

11:28 am Information Technology sector down slightly today

The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing inline weakness with the SOX trading 0.2% lower. VECO (-3.8%) is a notable laggard in the chip index, while IDCC (+14.1%) is the standout leader. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.4% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.1% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.1% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (-2.3%) is showing notable weakness.

In earnings last night, DRIV (-25.4%) and EA (-0.1%) reported quarterly miss and provide below consensus guidance, while FTR (+10.7%) and SIMG (+26.0%) posted qtrly beats and BMC (-5.3%) reported a miss and offered in line guidance. This morning, AMT (+0.4%) reported an inline qtr and guided lower. Among rumors, there were reports that LNVGY (+6.6%) may be interested in purchasing NOK (+4.1%). A LNGVY exec dissmissed the rumor this morning. Among notable analyst ratings changes this morning in the tech space, DRIV (-25.4%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James, BMC (-5.2%) was downgraded at Credit Suisse and Raymond James, and TECD (-3.8%) was downgraded to Underperform at BofA/Merrill. DOX (-0.4%) and TTEC (-0.1%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.