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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 11-Oct-13

Dow +111.04 at 15237.11, Nasdaq +31.13 at 3791.87, S&P +10.64 at 1703.2

The S&P 500 added 0.6% to extend its weekly gain to 0.8%. The Nasdaq outperformed with an advance of 0.8%, but finished the week with a loss of 0.4%.

Stocks climbed amid morning reports indicating a new proposal has been put forth by Republicans that would end the government shutdown and avoid a Treasury default. However, the subsequent White House meeting failed to produce a concrete agreement and Senator Orrin Hatch, who took part in the meeting, said the president expressed some concern over the duration of the proposed debt limit extension. Senator Hatch also said President Obama articulated the need for new revenues to be part of a long-term deficit reduction. In the end, the two sides did not appear to be much closer to an agreement as the shutdown is set to enter its third week.

Even though a solution to the deadlock has yet to be found, equities cheered the mere presence of some form of discussion. All ten sectors registered gains with energy (+1.0%) ending in the lead. The sector posted a solid gain even as crude oil fell 1.0% to $101.92 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the other commodity-related sector-materials--underperformed as miners weighed. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 23.05, -0.50) fell 2.1% while gold futures tumbled 2.1% to $1269.80 per troy ounce. Most of the decline in gold took place about an hour before the opening bell with the yellow metal falling more than $20 in under two minutes.

Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, discretionary shares (+0.8%) finished ahead of the broader market with homebuilders contributing to the strength. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 21.91, +0.37) advanced 1.7% as all major builders rallied.

Also of note, the financial sector (+0.6%) ended in-line with the S&P after JPMorgan Chase (JPM 52.51, -0.01) and Wells Fargo (WFC 41.43, -0.01) reported their quarterly results. JPMorgan Chase beat on earnings and revenue while Wells Fargo reported a bottom-line beat on below-consensus revenue.

Treasuries ended unchanged with the benchmark 10-yr yield at 2.69%.

Trading volume was on the light side as 634 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Looking back at today's economic data, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 75.2 in the preliminary October reading from 77.5 in September. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to fall to 74.5.

The drop in the index was most likely due to negative feedback from the government shutdown and the debate over the debt ceiling. If the government reopens soon and the debt ceiling is not breached, consumer sentiment is likely return to its September levels by the end of the month.

There is no economic data scheduled to be reported on Monday.

Week in Review: Stocks Dance to Washington's Tune

On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.9% as the equity market began the week on a shaky note and the same thing could have been said for politics in Washington. The two were inextricably linked as stock market participants were put off by some revelations from House Speaker Boehner over the weekend that made it sound as if partisan positions are hardening and not easing the closer we get to the October 17 debt limit deadline. In particular, Mr. Boehner told ABC's George Stephanopolous that: (1) the House does not have the votes to pass a clean continuing resolution; (2) the votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit increase; (3) and the US is on a path to default because President Obama won't negotiate over the debt ceiling. Mr. Boehner's viewpoints were decried by his opponents as reckless rhetoric, but the bottom-line for the market, however, was that nothing has been done yet with respect to the budget and debt ceiling. That understanding in turn left many participants sticking to the sidelines on concern that a deal may wait until the last minute.

Tuesday's session saw the S&P 500 continue its slide with a 1.2% retreat. Once again, the budget/debt ceiling impasse in Washington was largely to blame. The Nasdaq Composite was the biggest loser of the day, slumping 2.0% on the back of pronounced weakness in many of the market's favorite momentum stocks. The cracks in leading names like LinkedIn (LNKD 226.62, -0.93), Priceline.com (PCLN 1010.63, -2.56), Tesla (TSLA 178.70, +5.77) and Facebook (FB 49.11, +0.06) provided an added cue for buyers to stick mostly to the sidelines.

The S&P 500 added 0.1% on Wednesday, but was unable to regain its 100-day moving average (1662) after flirting with that level throughout the afternoon. The tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed throughout the session, sliding 0.5%. Equities began the session with slim gains amid reports President Obama was set to nominate Janet Yellen as the next Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve. However, given the expected nature of the announcement, the early boost faded quickly. The major averages appeared on their way to another losing session, but found support during late-morning trade when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tested its 200-day moving average for the first time this year. The price-weighted Dow built the subsequent rebound on the relative strength of top-weighted names like Nike (NKE 73.46, +0.02), IBM (IBM 186.16, +1.39), and Goldman Sachs (GS 160.00, +1.99).

On Thursday, the S&P 500 jumped 2.2%, turning its October loss into a gain of 0.7%. Equities registered the bulk of their gains at the open amid indications the budget stalemate may be getting a bit closer to a resolution. Participants rushed into risk assets after House Republicans proposed extending the debt limit by six weeks in order to allow for a broader discussion on spending. However, the Republican plan did not call for ending the partial government shutdown, which was met with an initial pushback from the White House. The S&P 500 settled on its high and managed to regain both its 50- and 100-day moving averages even as the day ended without a clear response to the Republican proposal from the White House.

 
 Index	   Started Week  Ended Week   Change  % Change  YTD % 
 DJIA	     15072.58	  15237.11    164.53	1.1	16.3 
 Nasdaq	      3807.75	   3791.87    -15.88   -0.4	25.6 
 S&P 500	1690.50	   1703.20     12.70	0.8	19.4 
 Russell 2000  1078.45	   1084.32	5.87	0.5	27.7

This week's top 20 % gainers

Utilities: PAM (6.36 +15.55%)
Technology: GAME (4.52 +14.07%), CALD (10.38 +13.03%), CAMP (23.78 +12.97%), SMI (3.94 +12.22%), RVLT (4.26 +11.98%)
Services: MW (45.96 +30.4%), OUTR (64.47 +19.99%), BONA (6.84 +19.82%), HZO (14.06 +14.29%), CONN (58.84 +11.39%)
Industrial Goods: XONE (51.63 +18.11%)
Healthcare: TXMD (4.31 +32.48%)
Financial: NBG (4.86 +18.85%), BFR (7.86 +14.76%)
Consumer Goods: BDE (14.5 +14.14%)
Basic Materials: HCLP (29.97 +15.86%), SLCA (31.08 +12.73%), PVA (7.81 +12.56%), PVR (26.3 +11.33%)

This week's top 20 % losers

Technology: CTXS (59.08 -14.69%), EGAN (13 -14.67%)
Services: LRN (19.02 -38.89%), CRRS (3.19 -27.01%), SSW (21.66 -19.64%), LQDT (27.05 -18.21%), RT (6.12 -15.75%)
Healthcare: ARIA (4.26 -70.73%), PBYI (44.52 -24.09%), IDIX (3.72 -22.95%), IMMU (5.41 -20.91%), ACAD (21.49 -18.45%), INSM (13.21 -18.18%), EXAS (10.01 -16.62%), CLDX (27.22 -16.02%), GEVA (57.29 -15.47%)
Consumer Goods: CTB (25.81 -17.65%)
Conglomerates: ACRX (8.8 -16.82%)
Basic Materials: PVG (4.79 -27.71%), FST (5.46 -15.28%)

3:32PM Earnings Preview for the week of October 14 - 18 (SUMRX) : Of the companies reporting earnings for the week of October 14 - 18 some of the bigger names include:

Monday:
Pre Market - KMG
After Hours - PKG, BRO
Tuesday:
Pre Market - C, JNJ, KO, OMC, DPZ
After Hours - INTC, CSX, YHOO, IBKR, LLTC
Wednesday:
Pre Market - BAC, PEP, ABT, USB, PNC, BK, SWK, BLK, GWW, MAT, ASML, STJ, WSO, KEY, NTRS, CMA
After Hours - IBM, AXP, EBAY, KMP, CCK, STLD, SNDK, URI, NE, SLM, ALB, UFPI, XLNX, HNI, EPB
Thursday:
Pre Market - UNH, VZ, PM, GS, UNP, NUE, TSM, DHR, PPG, SVU, BAX, BBT, DOV, DGX, BTU, FITB, BX, SON, APH, ADS
After Hours - GOOG, COF, LVS, SYK, AMD, HUBG, CMG, VMI, ISRG, WERN, CYT, KALU, PBCT
Friday:
Pre Market - GE, SLB, HON, MS, BHI, GPC, IR, PH, TXT, STI, IPG, LH

Large Cap Gainers
INFY (53.45 +6.3%): Reported Q2 earnings of INR 45.96 per share, excluding items, vs INR 45.85 estimate; raised FY14 rev guidance
MPEL (33.8 +3.52%): Upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie
PHG (32.73 +2.54%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
Large Cap Losers
GPS (36.63 -7.69%): Reported September same store sales of -3.0% vs +1.8% Retail Metrics consensus; target lowered to $43 from $51 at Janney
MU (17.24 -6.46%): Reported Q4 earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items; revs rose 44.8% yoy to $2.84 bln vs $2.8 bln estimate; downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo
POT (31.16 -1.84%): Sees Q3 EPS of ~$0.41 vs $0.46 estimate; MOS also trading lower

Mid Cap Gainers

SCTY (46.62 +21.64%): Reported that it continues to expect to achieve 278 MW deployed for FY13
SAVE (37.85 +11.13%): Disclosed September 2013 traffic rose 28.8% on a capacity increase of 24.9%; upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup; target raised to $41 from $38 at Barclays
SWY (33.78 +7.00%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.06 ($0.10 ex items vs $0.16 estimate), revs rose 1.1% yoy to $8.62 bln vs $8.52 bln estimate; co announced it intends to exit the Chicago market, resulting in cash tax benefit of $400-450 mln; upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan

Mid Cap Losers

NPSP (30.12 -9.14%): Mentioned cautiously by Jim Cramer
FNV (40.59 -4.16%): Weakness in gold companies: RGLD, GFI, AUY, EGO, NGD also lower
URBN (35.43 -2.83%): Weakness following poor same store sales results for peer The Gap (GPS)

IBM (IBM) and Semtech (SMTC) announced a significant advancement in wireless technology, combining IBM software and Semtech hardware to create a system capable of transmitting data up to a distance of 15 km, depending on the environment, with significantly improved ease-of-use.

ONNN -2.9% (amends and increases existing revolving credit facility to $800 mln )

GLW -1.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray)

Micron (MU 17.90, -0.53) is -2.9% following its mixed report. The chipmaker beat on revenue, but its earnings may not be comparable to estimates. Following the report, Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to 'Underperform' from 'Market Perform.'

7:51AM Trina Solar statement on antitrust litigation from Energy Conversion devices; believes lawsuit is without merit (TSL) 16.04 : Co commented on the filing of an antitrust and unfair trade practice lawsuit by Energy Conversion Devices against Trina Solar and other China-based solar manufacturers in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The co believes the lawsuit is without merit and will vigorously defend itself against the baseless allegations in the complaint. The co is not in a position to evaluate the potential impact of this lawsuit on its business at this time.

7:00AM SolarCity reports that The Company continues to expect to achieve 278 MW deployed for its current fiscal year 2013 (SCTY) 38.33 : Co announce in the third quarter of 2013, the Company deployed 78 MW. As of September 30, 2013, cumulative energy contracts reached 72,506, and cumulative customers rose to 82,235. Estimated nominal contracted payments remaining were $1,737 mln as of September 30, 2013.

Guidance: The Company continues to expect to achieve 278 MW deployed for its current fiscal year 2013. For its fiscal year 2014, the Company expects to deploy between 475 MW and 525 MW.

NSN and Juniper Networks (JNPR) announced the expansion of their long-term partnership. The agreement now covers secure IP connectivity for high-performance mobile broadband networks via jointly-developed solutions that meet the end-to-end needs of operators.
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) announced that the SAF5100, the first product from the RoadLINK range, is now available for automotive customer design-in.

07:25 am Micron shares fall 3% following disappointing earnings
Micron (MU $17.95 -0.48) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items ($1.31 in accounting gains -see below), while revenues rose 44.8% year/year to $2.84 bln which is ahead of estimates. For the fourth quarter, the company had net income attributable to Micron shareholders of $1.71 billion, or $1.51 per diluted share, on net sales of $2.8 billion. On July 31, 2013, the company completed its acquisition of Elpida Memory, Inc. and Rexchip Electronics Corporation.

The company's results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 include $1,484 million, or $1.31 per diluted share, in purchase accounting gains relating to the acquisition and the results of operations of Elpida for the month of August. Revenues from sales of DRAM products in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 were 50 percent higher compared to the third quarter due to a 42 percent increase in sales volume and a 5 percent increase in average selling prices. Revenues from sales of NAND Flash products were 5 percent higher in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to the third quarter primarily due to a 17 percent increase in sales volume offset by an 11 percent decrease in average selling prices.

The company's consolidated gross margin improved to 25 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to 24 percent in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Gross margins for DRAM benefitted from the improved average selling prices. Gross margins for NAND Flash products were unchanged as an 11 percent improvement in manufacturing costs was offset by the decrease in average selling prices.