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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities finished the Thursday session on a mixed note as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.4%) and S&P 500 (-0.1%) settled in the red while the Nasdaq posted a slight gain of 0.1%.

The stock market began the day on the defensive after two influential sectors, consumer discretionary (-0.5%) and financials (-0.6%), were hit with a one-two punch of selling interest. The early weakness knocked the S&P 500 back to Wednesday's opening levels, but the index did not stay near its session low for long as the outperformance of consumer staples (+0.01%), energy (+0.1%), and health care (+0.2%) helped it climb back to its opening level.

Retailers were in focus once again this morning after Best Buy (BBY 26.83, -10.74) lowered its guidance due to disappointing holiday sales. The stock, which surged 236.5% in 2013, plunged 28.6% while the broader SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 83.35, -0.67) lost 0.8%, widening its January decline to 5.4%.

Elsewhere, the financial sector sold off even after BB&T (BBT 38.73, -0.05), BlackRock (BLK 317.78, +5.03), Goldman Sachs (GS 175.17, -3.58), and PNC (PNC 80.93, +2.09) reported above-consensus results. Another large sector member, Citigroup (C 52.60, -2.39), fell 4.4% after missing on earnings and revenue.

Also of note, the industrial sector (-0.5%) lagged as transports retreated after rail operator CSX (CSX 27.24, -1.99) fell short of its earnings estimates. Shares of CSX tumbled 6.8% while the Dow Jones Transportation Average lost 0.6%.

The remaining three cyclical sectors-energy (+0.1%), materials (+0.1%), and technology (-0.1%)-ended little changed.

Over on the countercyclical side, all four sectors-consumer staples (+0.01%), health care (+0.2%), telecom services (+0.4%) and utilities (+0.7%)-finished ahead of the S&P 500.

Notably, biotechnology contributed to the outperformance of health case and the Nasdaq Composite as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 246.38, +3.24) gained 1.3%.

Treasuries ended on their highs with the 10-yr yield down five basis points at 2.84%.

Trading volume was well below average as only 641 million shares (versus 200-day average of 716 million) changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Investors received several economic data points today:

Weekly initial claims fell to 326,000 from a downwardly revised 328,000 (from 330,000) while the Briefing.com consensus expected the claims level to increase to 333,000. Since the end of November, the initial claims data have been plagued with biases from poor seasonal adjustments. According to the Department of Labor, those problems have now ended, and the data are giving an accurate read of current labor market trends. The continuing claims level increased to 3.030 million from a downwardly revised 2.856 million (from 2.865 million).
December consumer prices increased an in-line 0.3% after a flat November reading. The move in consumer prices was primarily the result of an upward swing in energy prices. After two months of declines, energy prices rose 2.1%. The gain contributed to a 3.1% increase in gasoline prices. Food prices increased 0.1% for a second consecutive month. Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.1%, down from a 0.2% increase in November. The consensus expected core CPI to increase 0.2%.
The January NAHB Housing Market Index fell to 56 from 58. Today's report was below the reading of 57 expected by the Briefing.com consensus.
The January Philadelphia Fed Survey rose to 9.4 from 6.4 while economists polled by Briefing.com expected a reading of 8.0.

Tomorrow, December Housing Starts and Building Permits will be released at 8:30 ET while December Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization will be reported at 9:15 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 9:55 ET release of the preliminary University of Michigan Sentiment survey for January.

Nasdaq +1.0% YTD
Russell 2000 +0.9% YTD
S&P 500 -0.1% YTD
DJIA -1.0% YTD

4:32PM Skyworks beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; Guides to better-than-seasonal performance in Q2 (SWKS) 28.62 -0.49 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.67 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.66; revenues rose 11.3% year/year to $505 mln vs the $500 mln consensus.
Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.59, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.57 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of ~$470 mln vs. $460.50 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:30PM Marvell announces CTO transition (MRVL) 14.76 -0.76 : Co announced the resignation of Dr. Pantas Sutardja from the role of Chief Technology Officer and the promotion of Dr. Zining Wu to the same position effective as of January 15, 2014. Dr. Pantas Sutardja will continue to assist the company for a transition period. Dr. Zining Wu has worked at Marvell Semiconductor since July 1999. Since August 2008, Dr. Wu has served as the Company's Vice President, Data Storage Technology.

4:12PM Intel misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line; reaffirms FY14 revs guidance (INTC) 26.54 -0.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.51 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.52; revenues rose 2.6% year/year to $13.83 bln vs the $13.74 bln consensus.

Intel reports Q4 gross margins of 62% vs Street expectations of slightly above 61% (INTC guided for gross margins of 61%, +/- a couple of percentage points).
Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $12.3-13.3 bln vs. $12.78 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Intel sees Q1 gross margins of 59% plus or minus two percentage points vs Street expectations near 59%.
Co reaffirms guidance for FY14, sees FY14 revs of ~flat YoY or $52.7 bln vs. $53.19 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co sees FY14 Gross margin percentage: 60 percent, plus or minus a few percentage points.
PC Client Group revenue of $8.6 billion, up 2 percent sequentially and flat year-over-year.
Data Center Group revenue of $3.0 billion, up 3 percent sequentially and up 8 percent year-over-year.
"We had a solid fourth quarter with signs of stabilization in the PC segment and financial growth from a year ago...We've built a strong foundation for our business by bringing innovation to the market more quickly across a wide range of computing platforms. For example, at CES, we demonstrated multiple devices that weren't on our roadmap six months ago."

4:06PM Intel -- Earnings Mover -- (INTC) : Drops more than 3% after hours, slips back near its Jan close and intraday lows at 25.31/25.25 and stabilizes (close 26.54).

Large Cap Gainers

LNKD (228.88 +5.96%): Strength attributed to story that the co named new President of China operations.
ILMN (124.98 +3.19%): Co and Amgen (AMGN) entered into agreement to develop oncology companion diagnostic test.
RIO (54.55 +2.94%): Reported record quarterly and annual iron ore production, shipments and rail volumes; Q4 global iron ore shipments mt (100% basis) 72.4 +8%.

Large Cap Losers

BBY (27.31 -27.31%): Reported domestic holiday comps -0.9%; lowered Q4 profit guidance (raised Q4 non-GAAP operating income headwind guidance); downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.
CSX (27.07 -7.39%): Missed on EPS by $0.01, reported revs in-line; downgraded to Hold at Stifel; upgraded to Buy at Argus; tgt $35.
KR (37.49 -4.51%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse; tgt lowered to $39.

Mid Cap Gainers

SCTY (75.26 +9.87%): Initiated with a Buy at Deutsche Bank.
SPWR (34 +6.68%): Initiated with an Overweight at JP Morgan.
AOL (50.54 +6.96%): Upgraded to Buy at CRT Capital and $57 tgt; TAG out positive on AOL following Adap.tv Conf. reiterate AOL as a top pick for 2014; co to partner with Hale Global on patch.

Mid Cap Losers

NUS (90.23 -21.7%): WSJ reported that China will investigate recent accusations against co; downgraded to Hold at Canaccord Genuity, tgt lowered to $104; added to buy list at Deutsche Bank.
CLC (59.54 -8.13%): Missed on EPS by $0.05, missed on revs.
GNRC (51.48 -6.81%): Downgraded to Perform from Outperform at Oppenheimer.

10:02AM Microsoft subsidiary, Microsoft Open Technologies, announces he opening of a subsidiary in China, Microsoft Open Technologies (Shanghai) (MSFT) 36.57 -0.19 : MS Open Tech Shanghai will have a team of engineers, standards professionals and technical evangelists with roots in open source and open standards. The Chinese subsidiary will focus on facilitating interactions between Microsoft proprietary development processes and the company's open innovation efforts on services and devices by advancing the investments in interoperability, open standards and open source.

STMicroelectronics (STM) has extended its STM32 F0 microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M0 core with new models that support crystal-less USB design, accurate sensing and smart power management for next-generation smart devices and connectivity products.

SanDisk (SNDK) announced an investment in Nexenta Systems. Nexenta's software-only platform, NexentaStor, delivers high-performance, scalable and cost-effective storage solutions for both private and public cloud environments

Juniper Networks (JNPR) unveiled Firefly Suite, a virtualized security portfolio that provides granular, dynamic and secure connectivity for the private and public cloud.

8:34AM Mellanox Tech: ITC rules Mellanox did not infringe Avago's (AVGO) VCSEL driver patent; Administrative Law Judge Determines '456 patent asserted by Avago not infringed. Certain Mellanox products, do, however, infringe on another of Avago's patents (MLNX) 43.74 : Co announced that, on December 13, 2013, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the U.S. International Trade commission (ITC) found that Mellanox's production and sale of its Active Optical Cable products do not infringe Avago's U.S. Patent Number 5,596,456, directed to a VCSEL driver, which was asserted against Mellanox by Avago in an ITC complaint (Inv. No. 337-TA-860) filed in September 2012. In the investigation, Avago sought a ruling that the IPtronics' drivers utilized in active optical cable products infringed the '456 patent. The decision by the ALJ in its initial determination that the IPtronics' drivers do not infringe the '456 patent is a positive outcome for Mellanox and its customers.

The ALJ did make a finding, however, that certain Mellanox products that contain a particular type of vertical cavity surface emitting laser ("VCSEL") do infringe another of Avago's patents, US Patent No. 5,596,595, directed to a VCSEL.

Mellanox has asked the ITC to review this initial finding, because, in Mellanox's opinion, the ALJ did not follow the law in construing the claims under the '595 patent. The final determination on this issue is not expected until mid-April. The VCSELs in the products at issue are supplied to Mellanox by third parties. The proceedings and final resolution of the issues raised by Avago in the ITC are not currently expected to impact Mellanox's current or planned product offerings or have a material adverse effect on the company's business, financial position, results of operations or cash flow.

AMCC +5.5% (following mention on Fast Money last night regarding options activity )

7:18AM Corning disclosed it completed the previously announced transactions to acquire the common shares of Samsung Corning Precision Materials (GLW) 18.41 :

Co disclosed "Such acquisition was completed pursuant to the Framework Agreement, dated as of October 22, 2013, entered into by SDC, Corning, certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of Corning and, following the execution of joinder agreements, SCP and Samsung Corning Advanced Glass LLC, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the Republic of Korea. The Framework Agreement was previously described in the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2013. As contemplated by the Framework Agreement, Corning has also acquired the common shares of SCP previously held by SCP's minority shareholders. Corning is now the owner of 100% of the common shares of SCP."
"In connection with the closing of the purchase of equity interests in SCP from SDC pursuant to the Framework Agreement, the Company designated a new series of its preferred stock as Fixed Rate Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, Series A, par value $100 per share, by filing on January 14, 2014 with the Secretary of State of the State of New York a Certificate of Amendment of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company, as further described in Item 5.03 of this Current Report on Form 8-K."

7:15AM Plug Power seeing continued strength; will host conference call to discuss Jan business update today at 10am ET; continues to expect first quarter 2014 booking to exceed the past quarter (PLUG) 3.80 : The Company closed $32M in bookings in the fourth quarter of 2013. Finally, Mr. Marsh will discuss Plug Power's unique position in the fuel cell industry, including how Plug Power plans to remain the market leader in the deployment of PEM fuel cell technology as the market expands in the coming years. "Without question, the Company is the premier systems integrator of PEM fuel cells serving Fortune 500 customers like Kroger, BMW, and Walmart in 24x7 operations," said Andy Marsh. "As the market for fuel cells expands into mobile applications like range extenders, transport refrigeration units and ground support equipment, no company is better positioned to leverage its expertise to penetrate these markets."

7:13AM Best Buy domestic holiday comps -0.9%; lowers Q4 profit guidance (raises Q4 non-GAAP operating income headwind guidance) (BBY) 37.57 : Domestic revenue of $9.75 billion declined 1.5% versus last year. The decline was primarily driven by a comparable store sales decline of 0.9% (Q4 comp consensus is +1%). Comparable store sales were negatively impacted by our continuing rationalization of non-core businesses. Excluding this impact, the company estimates Domestic comparable store sales would have declined ~ 0.7%.

Domestic online revenue was $1.32 billion and comparable online sales increased 23.5% due to: (1) intense executional focus; (2) a higher average order value; (3) increased traffic; and (4) improved inventory availability supported by our ship-from-store and online distribution center expansion initiatives. From a merchandising perspective, growth in computing, appliances and gaming was more than offset by declines in other categories, including digital imaging, movies and MP3 players.

International revenue of $1.70 billion declined 8.0% versus last year. The decline was primarily driven by: (1) the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; and (2) the loss of revenue from 35 large format stores closures in Canada and China. These declines were partially offset by a slight increase in comparable store sales in China and Canada.

In defense of our market share, and from a financial perspective, we made a significantly greater-than-expected year-over-year investment in pricing in the holiday period as Hubert previously discussed, and are projecting to continue to invest through the end of the quarter. In addition to this earnings impact for the fourth quarter, our Q3 FY14 earnings release quantified an additional impact that was estimated in the range of negative 60 to 70 basis points as a percentage of revenue versus last year's fourth quarter (Q4 FY13) non-GAAP operating income rate of 5.7%. This range was comprised of the following: (1) the negative impact of pricing investments; (2) the negative impact of our $150 to $200 million in FY14 incremental Renew Blue SG&A investments; (3) the temporary negative impact of our mobile warranty costs; and (4) the negative impact of the economics of our new credit card agreement; all substantially offset by the positive impact of our $505 million in annualized Renew Blue cost savings. Now as a result of all of these impacts, partially offset by substantially better-than-expected "non-Renew Blue" cost reductions, we expect our fourth quarter non-GAAP operating income rate to be 175 to 185 basis points lower than last year's (Q4 FY13) 5.7% non-GAAP operating income rate, excluding the impact of such items as restructuring charges and asset impairments."

"When we entered the holiday season, we said that price competitiveness was table stakes and an intensely promotional holiday season is what unfolded... our holiday revenues were negatively impacted by a number of factors, including: (1) the aggressive promotional activity in the retail industry during the holiday period, which we believe did not result in higher industry demand and had a deflationary impact on our revenue; (2) supply constraints for key products; (3) significant store traffic declines between "Power Week" and Christmas; and (4) a disappointing mobile phone market."

Adobe (ADBE) unveiled new 3D printing capabilities in Adobe Photoshop CC. Photoshop CC will become the go-to tool for anyone who wants to print a 3D model. Available immediately, it is part of a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud, the new 3D printing capabilities integrated in Photoshop CC.