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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities ended on their lows with the S&P 500 snapping its three-day win streak. The benchmark index fell 0.7% while the Nasdaq (-0.8%) lagged throughout the session.

Stocks began the day with slim losses, but the Dow and S&P 500 were quick to erase the early weakness. For its part, the Nasdaq was unable to make a sustained move into the green.

The S&P 500 climbed through the first hour of action, but the rally stalled with the index less than four points shy of its all-time intraday high of 1850.84. Shortly before midday, equities slumped to lows in a move that coincided with a headline from the International Monetary Fund reminding investors that global growth remains uneven and fragile with persistent downside risks.

While the IMF headline presented a convenient excuse for the swift dive, the stock market was challenged with increasing resistance prior to the release. The Nasdaq was bouncing up against its flat line while influential sectors like consumer discretionary (-0.9%), financials (-1.2%), and industrials (-0.9%) underperformed. Once the headline hit, the earlier underperformers drove the remainder of the market lower.

Eight of ten sectors ended in the red with financials registering the largest decline. Citigroup (C 48.19, -1.19) was the weakest performer among the majors while regional banks also endured significant losses. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE 37.83, -1.09) fell 2.8%.

Elsewhere, the discretionary sector slumped despite some M&A activity among luxury retailers. Signet Jewelers (SIG 93.65, +14.38) spiked 18.1% after announcing an agreement to acquire Zale (ZLC 20.92, +6.01) for $21 per share, representing a 41.0% premium to Tuesday's closing price.

Also of note, the industrial sector was pressured by transports as The Dow Jones Transportation Average saw its second day of losses. The bellwether complex lost 1.3% and finished the session down 2.3% for the week.

On the upside, energy and telecom services added 0.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

Treasuries finished on their lows (10-yr yield +2 bps at 2.73%) with the bulk of the retreat coming after the release of the FOMC minutes from the January meeting. Although the minutes did not contain any major surprises, they did indicate that some officials said there should be a 'clear presumption' in support of continued tapering in $10 billion increments.

Participation was on the light side with 688 million shares changing hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Today's economic data included two reports:

Housing starts fell 16% in January, from an upwardly revised 1.048 million (from 999,000) in December to 880,000. The Briefing.com consensus expected housing starts to fall to 963,000. There are some questions about how much of a role the adverse weather played in the decline. Surely the 67.7% decline in starts in the Midwest was partially weather driven. However, starts in the South, which was not that affected by the polar vortex, declined 12.5% in January. Furthermore, the hard-hit Northeast saw starts increase 61.9% in January. Normally, an exogenous shock -- such as the weather -- would result in a sizable rebound in the next month or two. However, after looking at all of the regional data, it is difficult to state with assurance that starts will return to the 1.00 million trend that they averaged in November and December.
January PPI increased 0.2% after ticking up 0.1% in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected the PPI to increase 0.2%. The BLS reconstructed the PPI index for January. Instead of using a Stage-of-Processing method, the PPI is now calculated based on a Final Demand-Intermediate Demand system. Beyond the typical manufacturing data, the new index also includes price trends for services, government spending, and exports. Prices of final demand goods increased 0.4% in January after increasing by the same amount in December. Energy price growth softened, up 0.3% in January after increasing 1.5% in December. Much of the gain in the final demand goods index was due to a 2.7% increase in pharmaceutical preparations.

Tomorrow, weekly initial claims and January CPI will be reported at 8:30 ET while January Leading Indicators and the Philadelphia Fed survey for February will both be released at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +2.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -1.1% YTD
S&P 500 -1.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -3.2% YTD

DJ30 -89.84 NASDAQ -34.83 SP500 -12.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 736/1.80 bln/1859 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1081/687.8 mln/1970

3:30 pm :

Mar natural gas extended yesterday's gains on forecasts calling for frigid weather at the end of Feb and heading into early March. Prices lifted from a session low of $5.83 per MMBtu and rose as high as $6.28 per MMBtu, a new high since Jan 2009 for the continuous contract.
Natural gas pulled back slightly in the last half hour of pit trade and settled with a solid 11.0% gain at $6.15 per MMBtu.
Mar crude oil was higher today despite a slightly stronger dollar index. Prices dipped to a session low of $102.40 per barrel but quickly regained momentum. The energy component pushed to a high of $103.47 per barrel, its highest level since Oct, as it headed into the close and settled at $103.46 per barrel, or 0.9% higher.
Apr gold traded in negative territory ahead of the release of FOMC minutes at 14:00 ET. The yellow metal brushed a session low of $1317.50 per ounce in early afternoon pit trade and settled 0.3% lower at $1320.60 per ounce, booking its first loss in eight sessions.
Mar silver chopped around in the red for most of today's floor trade. It touched a session high of $21.92 per ounce in morning action but quickly slipped back below the unchanged line. It eventually settled at $21.85 per ounce, or 0.2% lower.
Both of the precious metals slipped further into the red in electronic trade following the release of the FOMC minutes. Gold is now down 0.7% at $1314.70 per ounce while silver is down 1.2% at $21.64 per ounce.

5:09PM Facebook follow up: Co confirms purchase of WhatsApp for ~$16 bln in 8K filing (FB) 68.06 +0.76 :

Facebook announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire WhatsApp, a rapidly growing cross-platform mobile messaging company, for a total of approximately $16 billion, including $4 billion in cash and approximately $12 billion worth of Facebook shares. The agreement also provides for an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units to be granted to WhatsApp's founders and employees that will vest over four years subsequent to closing.
The acquisition supports Facebook and WhatsApp's shared mission to bring more connectivity and utility to the world by delivering core internet services efficiently and affordably. The combination will help accelerate growth and user engagement across both companies.
"WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable," said Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO. "I've known Jan for a long time and I'm excited to partner with him and his team to make the world more open and connected."
In the event of termination of the Merger Agreement under certain circumstances principally related to a failure to obtain required regulatory approvals, the Merger Agreement provides for Facebook to pay WhatsApp a fee of $1 billion in cash and to issue to WhatsApp a number of shares of Facebook's Class A common stock equal to $1 billion based on the average closing price of the ten trading days preceding such termination date.
Facebook will host a 30-minute conference call to discuss the acquisition at 3:00 PT / 6:00 ET today.

4:48PM Technical Analysis Close: Stock indices rotate lower (SUMRX) : The stock indices began the session on a mildly negative note with Nasdaq underperforming. Cautious trade overseas, (weaker data, firmer Yen, political unrest) following the mixed performance Tuesday (Dow lower) contributed to the slip. The early round of data rolled in below consensus (House Starts 880 K, vs. 963 K; Permits 937 k vs. 980) but once again the market shrugged this off as futures were able to edge off their pre-market lows. The S&P held at first level support (1836/1835) on the opening dip and quickly rotated higher to set a new four week high and challenge its Jan/all-time close/intraday highs (1848/1850, session high 1847.50). While global growth concerns and Fed chatter regarding winding down tapering by Q4 were cited, the S&P was technically overextended as the resistance was probed (S&P futures were up 11 days in row in early trade) and momentum was missing as the Nasdaq Comp merely climbed back to the flat line. Pressure persisted into midday and after a lateral drift the indices spent the last 90 minutes drifting lower.

Sectors pacing the way lower on a percentage basis were led by: Gold Miners GDX, Reg Bank KRE, Bank KBE, Silver SLV, Solar TAN, Broker IAI, Medical Supplies, Trucking, Finance XLF, Transports IYT, Steel SLX, Insurance KIE, Casino, Rail, Networking IGN, Auto CARZ, Biotech IBB, Home Const ITB. Groups on the plus side included: Natural Gas UNG, Crude Oil USO, Retail XRT, Energy XLE.

It was not surprising to see some consolidation develop given the very aggressive sprint off the Feb low (S&P up 110 points/6.3% from low to high). Pressure was relatively modest but the outside day, long upper tail and close near the low reflects a possible short term change in mood. Unless the index is able to sustain a rebound back through the 1833/1834 area there remains potential for additional corrective trade near term. Support under the low/congest (1826/1824) is in the 1820/1819 area.

4:12PM Veeco Instruments misses by $0.09, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (VECO) 40.58 -0.55 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.42 per share, $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.33); revenues fell 31.5% year/year to $73.2 mln vs the $70.14 mln consensus.

Guidance: Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $85-$95 mln vs. $82.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sees gross margin of 33-35% and operating spending of $42-$43 mln.

Commentary: Fourth quarter revenue was $73 million, within our guidance range. Very weak gross margins and high operating expenses contributed to poor bottom line performance ... We haven't yet seen a recovery in business conditions. MOCVD bookings decreased 22% sequentially to $52 million and have been at trough levels for over two years. MBE and Data Storage bookings improved slightly from the prior quarter, to $11 million and $22 million, respectively..."

2:46PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

SNP (83.6 +8.54%): Co's Board agreed to restructure its oil product marketing segment; also agreed to diversify the ownership of this segment by way of introducing social and private capital investment
FLS (81.43 +6.76%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.06 ($1.10 ex items vs $1.04 estimate), revs rose 4.6% yoy to $1.39 bln vs $1.39 bln estimate; sees FY14 EPS of $3.65-4.00 ex items vs $3.94 estimate, rev growth of +3-6% (~$5.10-5.25 bln) vs $5.25 bln estimate; increased quarterly dividend 14.3% to $0.16 per share
CF (241.12 +6.60%): Beat quarterly EPS by $1.23 ($5.71 vs $4.48 estimate), revs fell 10.5% yoy to $1.33 bln vs $1.24 bln estimate

Large Cap Losers

TS (43.77 -6.25%): Seeing reports that South Korea did not impose anti-dumping duties on energy pipe products; downgraded to Hold from Add at Banca Akros
TSLA (194.39 -4.57%): Initiated with a Market Perform at FBR Capital, target $150; co scheduled to report Q4 results today after the close
CA (32.27 -1.91%): Downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Cowen

Mid Cap Gainers

SIG (92.66 +16.89%): To acquire all of the outstanding stock of Zale (ZLC) for $21 per share in cash; acquisition expected to be high single-digit percentage accretive to earnings in the first full fiscal year after the close of the transaction
ZBRA (63.94 +12.70%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.04 ($0.82 vs $0.78 estimate), revs rose 12.4% yoy to $284.5 mln vs $267.81 mln estimate; sees Q1 EPS of $0.77-0.87 vs $0.65 estimate, revs of $276-286 mln vs $262.50 mln estimate
NBR (20.8 +11.44%): Reported Q4 EPS of $0.42 ex items, revs rose 0.3% yoy to $1.61 bln vs $1.54 bln estimate; upgraded to Outperform at Credit Agricole

Mid Cap Losers

SM (74.25 -17.12%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.18 ($1.26 ex items vs $1.44 estimate), revs rose 43.3% yoy to $636.7 mln vs $616.14 mln estimate; downgraded to Hold from Buy at KeyBanc Capital; downgraded to Hold from Buy at Tudor Pickering
X (24.81 -7.23%): Mentioned cautiously at JPMorgan following Department of Commerce preliminary decision to not impose tariffs on South Korean pipe manufacturers
SCTY (74.93 -6.28%): Downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird

Analog Devices (ADI) reported first quarter adjusted earnings of $0.49 per share, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 1.0% year/year to $628.2 million which is line with estimates. The company issued for the second quarter with EPS of $0.54-0.58 and revenues of $660-680 million which are both in line with estimates. ADI also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a 9 percent increase in its regular quarterly dividend, from $0.34 to $0.37 per outstanding share of common stock. The dividend will be paid on March 11, 2014 to all shareholders of record at the close of business on February 28, 2014.

Broadcom (BRCM) and QLogic (QLGC) announced a definitive agreement under which QLogic will acquire certain 10/40/100Gb Ethernet controller-related assets and non-exclusive licenses to certain intellectual property relating primarily to Broadcom's programmable NetXtreme II Ethernet controller family. Total deal consideration is approximately $147 million in cash. In connection with the transaction, Broadcom and QLogic will enter into a long-term supply agreement whereby Broadcom will become ASIC supplier to QLogic in support of the NetXtreme II product line. Concurrent with the closing, it is expected QLogic will license certain Broadcom patents under a non-exclusive patent license agreement that will cover QLogic's Fibre Channel products in exchange for a license fee of $62 mln. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of Broadcom and QLogic and is subject to customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar 2014. Excluding potential one-time gains related to this asset sale, Broadcom expects the transaction to be slightly accretive to earnings per share in 2014. QLogic expects this transaction to be immediately accretive to revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share.

Ultra Clean Holdings (UCTT) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.26 per share, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 40.2% year/year to $126.3 million which is higher than expected. The company issued the first quarter with EPS of $0.28-0.31 and revenues$135-140 million which is higher than expected. The company also disclosed "On February 18, 2014, Gino Addiego provided notice to the Company of his intention to resign from his position as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Mr. Addiego provided notice of his intent to resign in order to pursue other opportunities and not as a result of any disagreement with the Company or any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices. The resignation will be effective on or about March 10, 2014." significantly since November. Nitrogen floor prices are expected to continue to be the cash cost of Chinese urea producers. During the high-tariff season of November to June, their cash cost is estimated to be roughly $340 to $350 per ton delivered to the U.S. Gulf, compared to $285 to $300 per ton during the low-tariff season of July to October. Upside to nitrogen prices has recently developed due to the close of the Chinese low-tariff export season, low retailer and distributor inventory levels in important agricultural regions including Europe and North America, and emergence of normal seasonal demand. North America is expected to have robust ammonia demand through the first half of 2014, assuming normal weather conditions; however, prices may be constrained due to high levels of producer inventory carried over from 2013. Prices of urea and UAN in North America have increased and are expected to remain firm through the spring application season in order to attract imports required to fill 22 million nutrient tons of expected full year nitrogen demand, which is well in excess of the 15 million nutrient tons of expected North American production. Imports of urea and UAN have been lower than year ago levels, while strong spring demand is expected in association with 92 million acres of corn anticipated to be planted.