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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Equities showed indecision in the early going as trade hovered around the flat line for the first 90 minutes before the S&P 500 slid to a session low near 1350. The level provided some support for the benchmark index which managed to cross into positive territory before sellers retook control and drove it back down to session lows. However, the average received a considerable bid in the final minutes of the session and ended with a loss of 0.2%.

Financial stocks felt the brunt of yesterday's sell-off. As the nation's leaders discuss ways to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff, bank stocks will be especially sensitive to hints of a possible agreement. Today, major financials saw gains. Bank of America (BAC 9.09, +0.10), Citigroup (C 35.21, +0.19), and Morgan Stanley (MS 16.26, +0.17) advanced between 0.5% and 1.1%.

Looking at technology bellwethers, Apple (AAPL 525.62, -11.26) slid 2.1% to extend its recent slide. Since its September highs, the stock has lost over 25% in value as it searches for its next level of support. Meanwhile, Intel (INTC 20.03, +0.07) advanced 0.4% to snap its nine-day losing streak. The stock has lost nearly 10% since the start of November.

Networking companies continued seeing strong earnings. Yesterday, Cisco Systems (CSCO 17.94, +0.28) rallied after its quarterly report. Today, NetApp (NTAP 30.20, +3.07) surged 11.4% after beating on the bottom line. The networking company exceeded earnings expectations by $0.03 and reported in-line revenue. Following the report, Raymond James upgraded shares of NetApp to ‘outperform' from ‘market perform.'

In other earnings news, Wal-Mart (WMT 68.72, -2.59) reported third quarter earnings of $1.08 on $113.93 billion in revenue. The retail giant's bottom line beat the Capital IQ consensus estimate by $0.01, while the revenue missed expectations. The company's guidance was mostly in-line as it expects fourth quarter earnings between $1.53 and $1.58. Wal-Mart lost 3.6% in response to this morning's results while peer, Target (TGT 62.44, +1.06), gained 1.7% after its in-line quarter.

Stocks in the materials space traded largely in-line with the broader market. However, weakness among steel producers weighed on the sector. AK Steel (AKS 3.63, -0.39) fell 9.7% after the company announced the pricing of $500 million in senior notes set to mature in 2018 and 2019. In addition, AK Steel priced 22 million shares of common stock at a public offering price of $4.00 per share. Looking at other steelmakers, Steel Dynamics (STLD 12.29, -0.42) and Reliance Steel (RS 53.71, -0.79) settled lower by 3.3% and 1.5%, respectively.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average traded in-line with the remaining industrials. The bellwether complex shed 0.2% as 12 out of the 20 transportation stocks saw losses. This morning, United Continental (UAL 19.51, -0.47) experienced technical difficulties which resulted in some flight delays. United lost 2.4%, while rivals Alaska Air (ALK 40.88, +0.36), JetBlue Airways (JBLU 5.03, +0.05), and Southwest Airlines (LUV 8.84, +0.08) all gained between 0.9% and 1.1%. Airline stocks displayed relative strength after yesterday's sell-off weighed on the group and caused Delta and JetBlue to lose near 6.0% each.

A number of economic data points were reported today. Most notably, the Philadelphia Fed Survey slipped to -10.7 for November. This follows October's reading of -1.9 while economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would improve to a reading of 0.0.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 439,000, which was higher than the 388,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The tally was ahead of the revised prior week count of 361,000. As for continuing claims, they rose to 3.334 million from 3.163 million.

October consumer prices increased by 0.1%, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus forecast of a 0.1% increase. Today's reading follows prior month's 0.6% increase. In addition, core prices rose by 0.2% which was slightly hotter than the generally expected increase of 0.1%.

Separately, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for November registered a reading of -5.2, which was up from the prior month's reading of -6.2. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would slip to -8.5.

Tomorrow, September net long-term TIC flows will be reported at 9:00 ET. In addition, October industrial production and capacity utilization will both be announced at 9:15 ET. Also note that November options are set to expire tomorrow.DJ30 -28.57 NASDAQ -9.87 SP500 -2.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 951/1.97 bln/1507 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 998/779.4 mln/2092

3:30 pm : Commodities ended the day lower. Natural gas futures were volatile as usual and after whipping around to its LoD of $3.69 and then to its HoD of $3.83, the energy component ended today's session 2% lower at $3.77/MMBtu.

Dec crude oil sold off hard, dropping about $2/barrel to its lowest level of the day (LoD was $84.71/barrel). By the time today's floor trading session ended, crude oil was 1% lower at $85.45/barrel.

Precious metals also ended today's session in the red. Both gold and silver tanked about an hour after floor trading began, hitting their lowest levels of the day. Dec gold finished 1% lower today at $1713.90 and Dec silver finished 0.6% lower at $32.63/oz.DJ30 -72.53 NASDAQ -19.50 SP500 -6.95 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 845/1658.6 mln/1603 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 800 /550 mln/2283

4:16PM Applied Materials beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (AMAT) 10.30 -0.05 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.06 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues fell 24.4% year/year to $1.65 bln vs the $1.57 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.00-0.06 vs. $0.11 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $1,402-1.650 bln vs. $1.76 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"We see improving business conditions entering 2013, with orders projected to increase after bottoming in the fourth quarter."

-- Backlog decreased by $215 million to $1.6 billion and included negative adjustments of $42 million.
-- Gross margin was 38.4 percent on a non-GAAP basis, down from 41.6 percent, reflecting the decrease in net sales. GAAP gross margin was 35.6 percent.
-- Operating expenses were $518 million on a non-GAAP basis, down from $543 million, with the decrease primarily reflecting an adjustment in compensation accruals. GAAP operating expenses were $1.09 billion.

4:07PM Marvell reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (MRVL) 7.41 +0.02 : Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.20 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.20; revenues fell 17.8% year/year to $781 mln vs the $774.18 mln consensus.

*Non-GAAP gross margin for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 was 52.3 percent, compared to 53.6 percent for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 and 56.8 percent for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

*Co states: "Our results in the third quarter were affected primarily by the slowdown in PC demand. Despite the near-term softness in PCs, we are focused on growing our overall storage business through share gains in HDDs and growth in SSDs. We remain confident in our investments and multiple long-term growth opportunities. We also remain committed to returning cash to our shareholders through our share repurchase and dividend programs."

2:47PM STMicroelectronics comments on today's speculations: 'confirms its strong denial on the existence of a project which can compromise the unity of the company' (STM) 5.47 -0.08 : Following today's Bloomberg article, ST (STM) confirms its strong denial on the existence of a project which can compromise the unity of the company. Also, such a project has never been presented to the ST Supervisory Board. There is full alignment between the management of the company and the Supervisory Board of directors.

9:56AM Apple: AAPL slide continues as shares break to new November lows, now in play @ 531.55 (AAPL) 532.21 -4.67 :

8:34AM Advanced Energy announced that it has acquired Solvix SA, a privately held company based in Villaz-Saint-Pierre, Switzerland; financial terms not disclosed (AEIS) 11.65 : Co announces that it has acquired Solvix SA, a privately held company based in Villaz-Saint-Pierre, Switzerland. A manufacturer of power supplies for the surface treatment and thin films industry, Solvix brings a plasma-based sputtering and cathodic arc deposition applications to AE's existing product portfolio. With the addition, co will also establish a European engineering and development center for its thin-film industrial products business, in keeping with its strategy to move closer to its customers.

8:02AM Cisco Systems announces intent to acquire Cloupia for approximately $125 mln in cash and retention-based incentives (CSCO) 17.66 :

8:01AM Veeco Instruments files Form 12b-25 notification of late filing of 10Q (VECO) 29.08 : Co states: We are currently reviewing the timing of revenue recognition of MOCVD systems and related upgrades. The accounting issues do not relate to product performance or customer acceptance of our products. The systems which are the subject of these transactions were delivered, accepted and paid for in full by our customers. Our review focuses on determining whether revenue was recognized in the appropriate accounting periods."

Atmel (ATML) announced the availability of a new LIN family for automotive switch scan applications and in-vehicle ambient lighting control.

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) introduced a family of highly efficient front-end solutions for smart water and gas metering applications.

NetApp (NTAP) reported second quarter earnings of $0.51 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.48; revenues rose 2.3% year/year to $1.54 billion versus the $1.54 bln consensus. The company issues in-line guidance for the third quarter EPS EPS of $0.53-0.58 versus the $0.54 consensus and revenues of $1.575-1.675 billion versus $1.62 billion consensus. "We also saw momentum in our partnering strategy with continued FlexPod growth and a record high revenue contribution from Arrow and Avnet. Our focus on delivering best-of-breed storage solutions and the leverage we gain through go-to-market and channel partners will enable NetApp to grow our business and gain share."

Texas Instruments (TXN) announced it will reduce costs and focus investments in its Wireless business on embedded markets with greater potential for sustainable growth. Cost reductions include the elimination of about 1,700 jobs worldwide. TI previously outlined intentions to focus its OMAP processors and wireless connectivity solutions on a broader set of embedded applications with long life cycles, instead of its historical focus on the mobile market where large customers are increasingly developing their own custom chips. These changes require fewer resources and less investment. "We have a great opportunity to reshape our OMAP processor and wireless connectivity product lines to concentrate on embedded markets. Momentum is already building with new embedded applications and a broad set of customers, and we are accelerating our efforts in these areas," said Greg Delagi, senior vice president of Embedded Processing. As a result of these actions, the co expects annualized savings of about $450 million by the end of 2013. Total charges will be about $325 million, most of which will be accounted for in the current quarter. TI's Q4 outlook, published on Oct 22, did not comprehend these restructuring charges.

09:58 am S&P Information Technology Index trading higher today along with tbe broader market

The tech sector is trading modestly higher today, along with slight gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness, however, with the SOX trading 0.2% lower. Within the chip index, VECO (-6.7%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.1% and the NASDAQ is trading roughly flat on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (+1.0%) is showing strength, while FB (-3.0%) is showing notable weakness.

In tech earnings last night, NTAP (+10.2%) posted a Q2 EPS beat and guided inline and NTES (-4.8%) reported a miss, but announced a special dividend and a share repurchase. Also, AKAM (+0.1%) reaffirmed its guidance. This morning, DANG (+15.8%) posted a beat and raise. In news, TXN (+0.3%) announced a restructuring effort in eliminating its OMAP business and cut 1.7K jobs. Among rumors, there are reports that AAPL (-0.5%) is shipping more MacBook orders, but may delay iMac shipments. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, CTSH (+0.7%) and CHA (-0.3%) were upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse, NTAP (+10.2%) was upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James. Among downgrades, MGI (-8.6%) and PAYX (+0.2%) were downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse. AMAT (+0.2%), DELL (+0.1%), and MRVL (+1.2%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.