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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 28-Sep-12Equities stumbled out of the gate before the September Chicago PMI added to the risk-off sentiment. The survey revealed a contractionary reading of 49.7, while expectations called for the number to be closer to 52.9. After marking session lows, equities remained near the bottom of the range until the results of Spain's bank stress test were announced. The reported EUR59.3 billion capital shortfall was within the expected range which brought on a round of buyers who took the key averages to their session highs. The brief rally was short lived as the major indices followed it with a return to their opening levels. As a result, the S&P 500 finished lower by 0.5%.

Industrial stocks outperformed slightly. Electrical equipment manufacturer AZZ (AZZ 37.98, +3.22) jumped 9.3% after beating on earnings and revenues. In addition, the company issued upside full-year guidance and announced the acquisition of Canadian Galvcast Manufacturing.

Pentair (PNR 44.82, +1.44) advanced 3.3% after authorizing an initial stock repurchase program in the amount of $400 million. The program was first announced in March 2012 and will commence immediately.

Farm equipment stocks were generally higher following this morning's Department of Agriculture crop report which showed a notable decline in grain inventory. Deere (DE 82.47, +0.37) and AGCO (AGCO 47.47, +0.55) added between 0.5% and 1.2% each. The PowerShares DB Agriculture ETF (DBA 29.41, +0.44) saw notable outperformance as it gained 1.5%.

The bellwether Dow Jones Transportation Average has been a notable underperformer on the quarter, and it trailed the broader market again today. Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG 6.60, -0.45) was a notable laggard within the group as shares of the shipping company fell 6.4%. Railroads remained weak as CSX (CSX 20.75, -0.36) and Kansas City Southern (KSU 75.78, -1.18) both lost near 1.5%.

Financial stocks showed intraday strength, but ended up mostly in-line with the broader market. The SPDR Financials Select Sector ETF (XLF 15.59, -0.05) shed 0.3%.

Bank of America (BAC 8.83, -0.14) slid 1.6% after announcing that it has reached a $2.43 billion settlement in Merrill Lynch acquisition-related class action litigation. Due to the litigation expense, Bank of America sees a third quarter charge of $0.28.

American Express (AXP 56.86, +0.29) added 0.5% and was the only major name which ended higher on the day.

The University of Michigan's final Consumer Sentiment Survey for September fell to 78.3 from the 79.2 which was posted in the preliminary Survey. Economists had expected the reading to be revised down to 79.0.

Personal income increased in August by 0.1%, which was below the expected increase of 0.2%. Personal spending increased by 0.5%, which was in-line with expectations. Core personal consumption expenditures were higher by 0.1%, which was also in-line with expectations.

On Monday, the ISM Index and construction spending data will be released at 10:00 ET.

Week in Review: Stocks Stumble as Focus Turns Back to Spain

On Monday, stocks began the week on a down note after Germany's Ifo Business Climate Index missed expectations. The major averages marked their session lows during the opening minutes before setting on a day-long climb towards the unchanged line. Due to weakness in Apple, the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed with a loss of 0.6%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 shed 0.2%. Apple (AAPL 667.10, -14.21) ended lower by 1.3% after reporting selling just five million iPhone 5s over the weekend, while some expected sales to reach as much as 10 million units.

Tuesday's session started slightly higher before equities received an additional boost from positive consumer confidence data. Despite the upbeat numbers, stocks were unable to maintain the bullish tone as the major averages slipped into negative territory around midday. Stocks then extended their slide which also coincided with weakness in crude oil and the euro. The selling was broad-based, but financials, materials, industrials, and technology were among the worst performers. As a result, the S&P 500 ended lower by 1.1%.German semiconductor maker, Infineon Technology (IFNNY 6.44, -0.12) slid 6.1% after the company lowered its fourth and first quarter guidance.

On Wednesday, equities started in the red after Spain and the country's fiscal struggles were put back in the spotlight. The major indices marked session lows during the first hour before reversing and attempting a return to the unchanged line. However, due to the lack of a catalyst, the key averages were unable to sustain a meaningful rally. As a result, the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%. The Nasdaq underperformed and settled lower by 0.8%. Homebuilder stocks were broadly weaker as the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 24.83, -0.21) lost 2.3%.

Thursday's session got off to a strong start despite a string of negative economic data. The third estimate of second quarter GDP indicated growth of 1.3% which was well below the prior reading of 1.7%. Elsewhere, durable goods orders also showed notable weakness as new orders declined by 13.2% during August. Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders decreased by 1.6%. Weekly initial claims were the sole bright spot as the reading of 359k was below the broadly-anticipated 379k. The major averages extended their gains after Spain announced its 2013 budget which included spending cuts and no tax hikes. The key averages continued rallying throughout the afternoon and the S&P 500 settled higher by 1.0%. Discover (DFS 39.73, +0.02) surged 7.2% after reporting earnings and revenues ahead of expectations. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1176/1849. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 862/1610.

 
 Index	  Started Week  Ended Week  Change % Change  YTD % 
 DJIA	    13579.47	 13437.13  -142.34   -1.0   10.0 
 Nasdaq	     3179.96	  3116.23   -63.73   -2.0   19.6 
 S&P 500  1460.15	  1440.67   -19.48   -1.3   14.6 
 Russell 2000  855.53	   837.45   -18.08   -2.1   13.0

2:05PM MEMC Elec subsidiary sells 30MW Spectrum Solar Project to Southern Company (SO) and Turner Renewable Energy (WFR) 2.69 -0.08 : SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, announced that the company's forthcoming Spectrum Solar Project, a 30 megawatt (AC) / 37.5 MW (DC) solar photovoltaic power plant has been sold to Southern Company (SO) and Turner Renewable Energy. Construction of the project is expected to begin in October on a 311 acre site in Clark County, Nevada, with commercial operation anticipated during the second quarter of 2013. In addition to developing the plant, SunEdison will be responsible for ongoing operations and maintenance

12:47PM SMTC Corp signs agreement to acquire the assets of EMS provider Seksun Array Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd.; expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive (SMTX) 3.07 +0.05 : Co announced the signing today of an agreement to acquire the manufacturing assets of Seksun Array Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd.'s in Suzhou, China. The acquisition is expected to close in Q4, 2012. This acquisition will further expand SMTC's operations and capabilities in China, strengthen its global footprint, and support the growth of new business in the region. Seksun provides printed circuit board assembly and full "box build" systems integration focused on low volume, high mix business for the industrial, commercial and medical sectors. SMTC expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive.


8:01AM Emcore priced an underwritten public offering of 1,593,400 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $5.46 per share (EMKR) 5.87 : The offering was increased from what was previously announced due to demand from investors.


Research In Motion (RIMM $8.00 +0.87) reported a second quarter loss of $0.27 per share, $0.19 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.46), while revenues fell 31.1% year/year to $2.87 billion versus the $2.5 bln consensus. RIMM reports Q2 gross margins of 26.0%; Street expectations 28.4%, Q1 28.0%. BlackBerry subscriber base increased to approximately 80 million global subscribers. Cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments increased by approximately $100 million to $2.3 billion at the end of the second quarter. Cash flow from operations was approximately $432 million in the second quarter. Shipments of BlackBerry smartphones were 7.4 million and shipments of BlackBerry PlayBook tablets were approximately 130,000. "Despite the significant changes we are implementing across the organization, our second quarter results demonstrate that RIM is progressing on its financial and operational commitments during this major transition," said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO. "Subscribers grew to approximately 80 million global users, revenue grew sequentially from the first quarter, cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments increased by approximately $100 million to $2.3 billion, and carriers and developers are responding well to previews of our upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform. Make no mistake about it, we understand that we have much more work to do, but we are making the organizational changes to drive improvements across the company, our employees are committed and motivated, and BlackBerry 10 is on track to launch in the first calendar quarter of 2013."

Micron (MU $6.15 +0.13) reported fourth quarter loss of $0.24 per share, $0.03 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.21), while revenues fell 8.3% year/year to $1.96 billion versus the $2.13 bln consensus. "In 2012, despite difficult market conditions and lower average selling prices, we continued to execute on our technology and manufacturing roadmaps and moved our products increasingly into premium segments. Our focus throughout 2013 is to drive additional cost reductions and advance our leading-edge memory technology to achieve increased manufacturing efficiencies," Revenues from sales of NAND Flash products were 12 % lower in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2012, due to an 11 % decrease in sales volume. Revenues from sales of DRAM products in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 were 9 % lower compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2012 due to a 9 % decrease in sales volume. Sales of NOR Flash products were approximately 12 % of total net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. The company's consolidated gross margin of 11 % in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was essentially unchanged from the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Improvements in margin from sales of NAND Flash and NOR Flash products were offset by declines in margins from sales of DRAM products.

10:27 am S&P Information Tech sector trading lower today along with the borader market

The tech sector is trading lower today, along with losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing inline weakness with the SOX trading 0.5% lower. Within the chip index, STM (-3.0%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.6% lower today, the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.6% lower on the session as well. Among tech bellwethers, QCOM (-1.4%) is showing notable weakness, while FB (+4.8%) is bucking the trend. In tech earnings last night, ACN (+6.0%) posted inline Q4 EPS, slightly better-than-expected revs, and guided above consensus. Elsewhere, RIMM (+11.8%) reported a Q2 beat, while MU (+2.4%) posted a Q4 miss. This morning, ADTN (-8.9%) issued downside Q3 guidance. In news, AAPL (-1.0%) CEO issued a letter apologizing for iOS 6 Maps. Among rumors, discussions between AAPL and SNE (-2.5%) regarding music streaming service for iPhone hit a snag, according to reports.

In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, RIMM (+11.8%) was upgraded to Sector Perform at Scotia Capital. While among downgrades, ADTN (-9.2%) was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA/Merrill