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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Today's session began on a lower note after pre-market weakness in Apple (AAPL 501.75, -18.55) weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 marked its session low in the 1465 area an hour into the session. The benchmark index then reversed and spent the remainder of the session climbing back near its flat line before finishing with a slim loss.

Apple lost 3.6% after being down as much as 4.5% during pre-market trade. The underperformance followed reports from the Nikkei and the Wall Street Journal, which indicated the largest tech company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 parts due to sluggish demand. The early selling pushed the stock below $500 for the first time in eleven months. A handful of Apple suppliers were also pressured by the news as Qualcomm (QCOM 64.24, -0.66) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS 28.62, -2.96) lost 1.0% and 9.4% respectively. Note that several analysts have come out in defense of Apple saying the story is not a recent development.

Among other smartphone manufacturers, Research In Motion (RIMM 14.95, +1.39) remained in the spotlight. On Friday, the stock surged over 15.0% after photos of the new Blackberry 10 handset became available on the internet. Today, Research In Motion settled higher by 10.3%, which puts it 27.0% above Friday's opening price.

Telecom stocks lagged the broader market after morning reports hinted at slowing Apple iPhone demand. The three major carriers which offer the device on their networks traded lower in response to the developments. AT&T (T 34.02, -0.25), Sprint Nextel (S 5.69, -0.23), and Verizon Communications (VZ 42.59, -0.71) saw respective losses of 0.7%, 3.9%, and 1.6%. Note that UBS downgraded Sprint and Verizon to ‘Neutral.' In addition, JPMorgan Chase also downgraded Sprint to ‘Neutral' from ‘Overweight.'

Dell (DELL 12.29, +1.41) was on the move today after Bloomberg TV reported the PC maker is in talks with private equity regarding a potential buyout. Dell surged 13.0% on the news, and several related names moved higher as well. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 16.95, +0.79) and Seagate (STX 33.97, +0.68) saw respective gains of 4.9% and 2.0%.

Discretionary stocks showed relative weakness in early trade, but the sector settled with slim gains. Amazon.com (AMZN 272.73, +4.79) was a notable advancer as the online retailer hit a fresh all-time high of $274.26.

Harry Winston Diamond (HWD 15.08, +0.62) rose by 4.3% after the company agreed to sell its luxury brand diamond jewelry and timepiece division to the Swatch Group for $750 million. In addition, Swatch will assume up to $250 million of pro-forma net debt.

V.F. Corporation (VFC 153.88, +4.88) advanced 3.3% after the company confirmed it has submitted a bid to acquire Billabong International for AUD1.10 per share.

Financials underperformed and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 17.06, -0.05) slipped 0.3%. The financial sector saw notable gains in recent weeks, but last Friday's earnings report from Wells Fargo (WFC 34.77, -0.33) failed to please investors. Though the bank exceeded analyst expectations on the top and the bottom line, a decrease in net interest margins and mortgage originations weighed. Today, the space traded lower with most majors scheduled to reveal their fourth quarter results this week. Looking at individual components, Bank of America (BAC 11.47, -0.16) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 45.88, -0.26) lost 1.4% and 0.6% respectively.

Looking at tomorrow's economic data, December retail sales, retail sales ex-auto, PPI, core PPI, and the January Empire Manufacturing Index will all be reported at 8:30 ET. Lastly, November business inventories will be released at 10:00 ET.DJ30 +18.89 NASDAQ -8.13 SP500 -1.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1153/1.83 bln/1292 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1490/590.5 mln/1497

3:30 pm :

Feb crude oil dipped into negative territory and to a floor session low of $92.95 per barrel in morning action. However, the energy component trended higher for the remainder of pit trade and rallied to a session high of $94.27 per barrel moments before it closed at $94.23 per barrel, or 0.7% higher.
Feb natural gas extended gains for a third consecutive session, trading as high as $3.41 per MMBtu during today's floor trade. Despite a slight sell-off heading into the close, natural gas settled at $3.37 per MMBtu with a 1.2% gain.
Feb gold spent its entire pit session in the black but pulled-back from its session high of $1674.80 per ounce set in early morning action. The yellow metal slid to a session low of $1663.90 per ounce but managed to recover some of the gains as it settled 0.6% higher at $1669.60 per ounce.
Mar silver also traded higher during today's floor session. Although it dipped to a session low of $30.75 per ounce, silver booked a solid 2.4% gain as it closed at $31.14 per ounce, or just below its session high of $30.16 per ounce.

4:16PM Silicon Graphics Japan installs four-screen virtual reality system at Komatsu for construction equipment design and development (SGI) 10.53 -0.07 : Co has installed a four-screen virtual reality system at Komatsu's Ibaraki Plant for the design and development of construction equipment. The four-screen immersive virtual reality system creates a virtual environment in which designers experience how drivers and maintenance personnel actually operate inside the equipment.
4:11PM GSI Technology issues upside Q3 revs guidance (GSIT) 6.11 -0.15 : Co issues upside guidance for Q3 (Dec), sees Q3 (Dec) revs of $17.5 mln vs. $15.50 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, compared to guidance of $15.0 million to $16.0 million that the Company provided early in the third quarter. GSI also reported that direct and indirect sales to its largest customer, Cisco Systems, are expected to be approximately $6.5 million in the third quarter, compared to $4.9 million in the previous quarter. In addition, shipments to military customers were up significantly compared to the prior quarter. The Company cautioned that these results are preliminary and subject to change.

4:09PM FEI adopts group structure to facilitate further growth (FEIC) 57.91 -0.59 : Co today that it is reorganizing the company into a group structure to enable it to efficiently execute its growth strategy. The company will be organized into two groups: an Industry Group, focused on customers making economic decisions to purchase and utilize FEI solutions that improve yield, reduce cost or speed time to market resulting in improved profitability; and a Science Group, focused on customers using FEI solutions to advance research and discovery.

10:12AM Apple gaps down to 11 month low (AAPL) 503.30 -17.00 : Following the 28% Sep-Nov decline AAPL formed a very wide, loose trading over the last two months. Today's aggressive gap down start broke slightly below this range low from Dec (at 501, session low 498) with lateral trade developing thus far. A sustained move above the Dec/Nov lows at 501/505 and last week's range lows at 515 is needed to begin to improve the very short term patterns. Extension target supports, based on the Nov-Jan range, are at 486 and 475 (Click for chart).


8:37AM Ixia raises Q4 guidance (XXIA) 17.66 : Co issues guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS at or slightly above the $0.20-0.22 prior range vs. $0.22 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; raises Q4 (Dec) revs to $123.5-124.5 mln from $118-122 mln vs. $120.56 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Ixia also indicated that it expects fourth quarter combined revenue from its two recent acquisitions, Anue Systems and BreakingPoint Systems, to be in the range of $30 to $31 million, compared with its previously stated guidance of $26 to $28 million. "Ixia delivered an impressive fourth quarter with strong momentum across all of our solutions." Co will report Q4 on Feb 6.

8:01AM Trina Solar obtains rights to develop 50 MW solar project in Gansu (TSL) 5.62 : Co announced that it has obtained approval from the Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission to develop a 50 MW grid-connected solar power plant project in Wuwei, Gansu.

6:02AM JA Solar Appoints Executive Chairman Baofang Jin as Chief Executive Office (JASO) 5.59 : Co announces the appointment of Baofang Jin as chief executive officer, effective January 21, 2013. He will replace Dr. Peng Fang, whose three-year term of service will end on January 20, 2013. Mr. Jin has been JA Solar's chairman since May 2005 and executive chairman of the Board of Directors since July 2009.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird and target was raised to $25 from $21. The Firm notes their channel checks indicate that co is executing very well amidst a challenging macro. They believe the co has emerged stronger post its restructuring efforts, and they see less gross margin downside going forward than experienced in recent years. They don't see software-defined networking as a threat to the traditional corporate business in the near-to-medium term. CSCO is their best large-cap idea for 2013.


10:58 am Tech Sector trading lower by 1.1% following Apple news

The tech sector is trading lower today, behind narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 1.0% lower. Within the chip index, CRUS (-6.7%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.4% lower today, while the QQQ is down 0.9% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.7% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, CSCO (+1.4%) is showing notable strength, while AAPL (-3.3%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings, WBSN (+3.9%) guided higher in conjunction with naming a CEO. XXIA (+5.8%) and AVNW (+8.1%) also raised guidance. In news, Gartner data revealed that HPQ (+2.2%) won back PC market share. Among rumors, AAPL (-3.2%) cut orders from some suppliers for iPhone 5 by half following weak demand, according to reports. Also, VRNT (+7.4%) is in talks to be acquired by NICE (+6.4%) for $1.5 bln, 19% premium, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, CSCO (+1.5%) was upgraded at Baird and William Blair, FB (-2.8%) was upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank, FIO (+4.1%) and HPQ (+2.2%) were upgraded at JP Morgan and XLNX (+0.1%) and ADI (+0.9%) were upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. Among downgrades, ARMH (-1.2%) was downgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray, EMC (-1.0%) and IBM (-1.2%) were downgraded at JP Morgan, NOK (-3.0%) was downgraded to Underweight at Barclays, MXIM (-2.0%) was downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse, JDSU (-1.7%) was downgraded to Neutral at Goldman and S (-3.3%) was downgraded at JP Morgan and UBS. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.