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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Equities opened the session on a higher note after reports indicated Spain may be willing to ask for access to precautionary credit. The reports were followed by comments out of Germany which suggested the country's officials believe additional hurdles remain in Spain's way. Separate reports indicated the old continent's other troubled sovereign, Greece, is far from reaching an agreement with the Troika on its next bailout tranche. The European news did little to curb optimism as buyers lifted the major averages to midday session highs, which were maintained into the close. As a result the S&P 500 registered a gain of 1.0%.

Citigroup (C 37.25, +0.59) advanced 1.6% after announcing Chief Executive Officer, Vikram Pandit, and President and Chief Operating Officer, John Havens, have resigned. The resignations are effective immediately and the company's board has elected Michael Corbat as the new CEO.

Goldman Sachs (GS 123.22, -1.28) slipped 1.0% despite cruising past its earnings and revenue estimates. The financial giant exceeded Capital IQ earnings expectations by $0.58 and reported revenues nearly $1 billion ahead of Capital IQ estimates. In addition, the investment bank increased its dividend to $0.50 from $0.48.

PNC (PNC 60.40, -2.53) fell 4.0% despite beating on earnings and revenues.

Meanwhile, American Express (AXP 58.63, +1.04) outperformed and closed with a gain of 1.8%.

European financials showed considerable strength after earlier reports indicated Spain may ask for precautionary credit. Even though German officials have since come out to cool the speculation, European banks have maintained their gains. Deutsche Bank (DB 45.02, +1.97) rose by 4.6% while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA 8.24, +0.51) jumped 6.6%.

The materials sector led the broader market. Within the space, steel producers showed notable gains. Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF 44.07, +2.93) and Olympic Steel (ZEUS 18.77, +1.07) advanced 7.1% and 6.1%, respectively.

Packaging stocks also showed strength. Packaging Corp (PKG 36.26, +0.66) rose by 1.9% after reporting mixed earnings. The company reported a slight earnings miss, while its revenues were in-line with Capital IQ estimates. In addition, the management issued upside fourth quarter guidance. Peers Owens-Illinois (OI 20.61, +0.45) and Greif (GEF 44.04, +0.87) registered gains of 2.2% and 2.0%, respectively.

Also of note, provider of construction materials Texas Industries (TXI 44.47, +3.28) surged 8.0% after Sidoti upgraded the stock to ‘buy.'

The Dow Jones Transportation Average outperformed the broader market and settled higher by 1.1%.

Railroads Kansas City Southern (KSU 77.35, +2.65) and Union Pacific (UNP 123.40, +2.47) saw respective gains of 3.6% and 2.0%. Freight carriers were also on the rise. Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD 35.25, +0.25) and CH Robinson (CHRW 60.90, +0.54) both added near 0.8%.

Meanwhile, Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG 3.76, -1.41) was the worst performer among transportation stocks. The shipper sank 27.3% to extend its recent weakness. There did not appear to be any news related to the company and today's selling follows the stock's Friday decline of 13.6%.

In consumer stocks, Coca-Cola (KO 37.90, -0.23) slid 0.6% after the beverage giant reported in-line earnings and revenues.

Avon Products (AVP 17.14, -0.13) slipped 0.8% after the Food and Drug Administration disclosed a letter which warns the cosmetics producer about the marketing of some of its products.

WD-40 Company (WDFC 47.66, -3.39) fell 6.6% after missing on both earnings and revenues . In addition, the company lowered its full-year 2013 earnings and revenue guidance below consensus.

In economic news, the August net long-term TIC flows report indicated a $91.4 billion inflow of foreign capital into U.S. denominated assets. This follows the prior month's reading of $67.0 billion.

Industrial production increased during September by 0.4%, which was better than the 0.3% increase that had been widely expected. The reading follows the unrevised 1.2% decrease experienced in the prior month. Capacity utilization hit 78.3%, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus, and up from the unrevised prior month reading of 78.2%.

September consumer prices increased by 0.6% which was slightly better than the Briefing.com consensus of a 0.5% increase. Today's reading follows prior month's 0.6% increase. In addition, core prices rose by 0.1% which was slightly cooler than the generally expected increase of 0.2%.

The NAHB Housing Market Index for October registered a reading of 41. That was up from the prior month's reading of 40, and slightly worse than the reading of 42 that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be announced at 7:00 ET, while September housing starts and building permits will be released at 8:30 ET.DJ30 +127.55 NASDAQ +36.99 SP500 +14.79 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1584/1.68 bln/874 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2283/641.1 mln/738


4:21PM IBM beats by $0.01, misses on revs; reaffirms FY12 EPS guidance (IBM) 211.00 +2.07 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $3.62 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $3.61; revenues fell 5.4% year/year to $24.75 bln vs the $25.36 bln consensus Gross Profit (non-GAAP 48.1% up 12 bps y/y. Co reaffirms guidance for FY12, sees EPS of at least $15.10, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $15.15 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Segments
-- Software revenue down 1 percent, up 3 percent adjusting for currency;
-- Services revenue down 5 percent, flat adjusting for currency;
-- Services backlog of $138 billion, up 1 percent;
-- Systems and Technology revenue down 13 percent, down 12 percent adjusting for currency;
-- Growth markets revenue down 1 percent, up 4 percent adjusting for currency; BRIC countries up 4 percent, up 11 percent adjusting for currency;
-- Business analytics revenue up 14 percent year to date; Smarter Planet revenue up more than 20 percent year to date;
-- Cloud revenue year to date has exceeded full-year 2011 revenue...

Geography
The Americas' third-quarter revenues were $10.4 billion, a decrease of 4 percent from the 2011 period. Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $7.2 billion, down 9 percent. Asia-Pacific revenues increased 1 percent to $6.5 billion. OEM revenues were $538 million, down 28 percent compared with the 2011 third quarter. Revenues from the company's growth markets decreased 1 percent and 35 countries had double-digit revenue growth, adjusting for currency. Revenues in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - increased 4 percent.

Services Global Technology
The estimated services backlog at September 30 was $138 billion, up 1 percent year over year at actual rates (up 1 percent, adjusting for currency).

Software
Revenues from the Software segment were $5.8 billion, down 1 percent compared with the third quarter of 2011. Software pre-tax income increased 6 percent and pre-tax margin increased to 35.6 percent. Revenues from IBM's key middleware products, which include WebSphere, Information Management, Tivoli, Lotus and Rational products, were $3.6 billion, down 1 percent.

Hardware
Revenues from the Systems and Technology segment totaled $3.9 billion for the quarter, down 13 percent from the third quarter of 2011. Excluding Retail Store Solutions (RSS), revenues were down 11 percent.

Expense
Total expense and other income decreased 7 percent to $6.7 billion, or a decrease of 9 percent to $6.5 billion, excluding $162 million for UK pension-related charges, compared with the prior-year period. S,G&A expense of $5.9 billion increased 4 percent year over year, or expense of $5.7 billion, up 1 percent excluding the impact of UK pension-related charges. S,G&A expense includes $408 million for workforce rebalancing, which negatively impacted net income by approximately $310 million. R,D&E expense of $1.5 billion decreased 1 percent compared with the year-ago period. Intellectual property and custom development income increased to $303 million compared with $298 million a year ago.


4:14PM Intel beats by $0.09 (GAAP), beats on revs; guides Q4 revs in-line (INTC) 22.35 +0.62 : Reports Q3 (Sep) GAAP earnings of $0.58 per share, $0.09 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.49 (non-GAAP $0.60 vs. $0.52 consensus); revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $13.46 bln vs the $13.2 bln consensus; co lowered rev guidance to $12.9-13.5 bln from $13.8-14.8 bln on Sept 7. PC Client Group revenue of $8.6 billion, flat sequentially and down 8 percent year-over-year; Data Center Group revenue of $2.7 billion, down 5 percent sequentially and up 6 percent year-over-year. Co reports Q3 GAAP gross margin of 63.3% vs guidance lowered 100 bps to 62% on Sept 7.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $13.1-14.1 bln vs. $13.74 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, with gross margin percentage: 57%, and 58% Non-GAAP, both plus or minus a couple of percentage points.


4:04PM Cree beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides DecQ EPS in-line, revs in-line (CREE) 26.17 +0.72 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.26; revenues rose 17.4% year/year to $315.8 mln vs the $317.6 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2 (Dec), sees EPS of $0.27-0.31, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.30 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $320-340 mln vs. $333.8 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

12:12PM Apple runs to new high of 648.51, last week's gap top and 50 day ema are at 651.28/651.54 (AAPL) 647.84 +13.10 :


12:05PM Microsoft reaches agreement to acquire StorSimple (MSFT) 29.67 +0.16 : Co announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire StorSimple, a leader in Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) solutions. The addition of CiS will advance Microsoft's Cloud OS vision and help customers more efficiently embrace hybrid cloud computing.

11:03AM Microsoft confirms new Surface Details (MSFT) 29.56 +0.05 : Originally unveiled in June, Surface with Windows RT will initially be available in three SKUs: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699. Surface will be available for purchase beginning Oct. 26, 2012, at all Microsoft Store locations in the United States and Canada.

9:02AM OmniVision's OV10630 selected by Tesla Motors (TSLA) to enable advanced rear-view camera application (OVTI) 14.07 : Co announces that its OV10630 image sensor was selected by Tesla Motors (TSLA) to support the manufacturer's rear-view camera system in Model S. The megapixel OV10630 was chosen by Tesla Motors for its ability to combine 720p HD video.

Marvell (MRVL) announced that Korean service provider, LG U+, a subsidiary of LG Group, has selected the Marvell ARMADA 1500 SoC platform to power its IPTV Google (GOOG) TV set-top-box.


Microchip (MCHP $31.98 -0.22) lowered third quarter revenue outlook. The company announced that it expects its net sales for its second quarter of fiscal 2013 ending September 30, 2012 to be about $407 to $408 mln on a non-GAAP basis. On August 2, 2012, Microchip provided guidance of net sales to be approximately $412 to $430 million on a non-GAAP basis. There will be no conference call in conjunction with today's press release. "Our lower than anticipated net sales activity in the September quarter was driven primarily by macroeconomic and industry conditions," said Steve Sanghi, Microchip's President and CEO."The overall global economic outlook continues to be poor and is adversely impacting our business as well as the rest of the semiconductor industry. We will provide the details of our financial performance for the September 2012 quarter and guidance for the December 2012 quarter during our November 8, 2012 conference call," added Mr. Sanghi.

Yahoo (YHOO $15.85 -0.07) announced that Henrique de Castro has been hired as chief operating officer (COO). Reporting directly to Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, de Castro will be responsible for strategic and operational management of Yahoo!'s sales, operations, media and business development worldwide. Most recently, de Castro was vice president of Google's (GOOG) worldwide Partner Business Solutions group, where he was responsible for advertising platforms and services for Google's publisher and commerce partners. De Castro will join the company on or before January 22, 2013, or as soon as he has satisfied his obligations to his current employer.