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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 07-Mar-14

Dow +30.83 at 16452.72, Nasdaq -15.90 at 4336.22, S&P +1.01 at 1878.04

The stock market finished an upbeat week on a mixed note. The S&P 500 added just over a point, holding its weekly gain at 1.0% while the Nasdaq lost 0.4%.

The major averages began the day on an upbeat note, but relinquished their opening gains during the first 90 minutes of action. The early sentiment was boosted by a better-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for February (175K versus Briefing.com consensus 163K), but a closer look into the report suggested that the weather excuse, which has been commonplace for the past several weeks, may have been overused in justifying some of the disappointing economic data received in recent weeks.

Stocks retreated from their opening highs with the Nasdaq pacing the slide. Specifically, biotechnology underperformed for the second day in a row, which fueled much of the Nasdaq weakness. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 259.40, -1.74) lost 0.7% after being down as much as 2.6% at the start of the session. The biotech ETF posted a 1.9% decline for the week, but remains up 14.2% in 2014.

Although biotechnology was able to climb off its lows, the rebound coincided with selling in the traditional technology sector (-0.3%). As a result, the Nasdaq was pressured throughout the day.

Even though heavily-weighted sectors like technology and health care (-0.2%) weighed on the broader market, the S&P 500 held up relatively well thanks to the relative strength of the financial sector (+0.5%), which continued its recent outperformance. The influential sector finished the week with a gain of 3.0%.

Elsewhere among cyclical groups, energy (+0.4%) and industrials (+0.3%) outperformed while consumer discretionary (-0.1%) and materials (-0.5%) lagged. The energy sector posted a modest gain as crude oil rose 1.0% to $102.54/bbl. Despite today's increase, the energy space remains the weakest cyclical group of the year, down 1.8%.

Industrials, meanwhile, drew strength from transports. The Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.4% after marking a fresh intraday record high at 7627.44.

Despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the situation in Ukraine, stocks climbed into the close, suggesting participants remained hopeful that a worst case scenario would be avoided. The sentiment was a bit different in Europe where major regional indices finished on their lows after a Gazprom spokesman said the company could stop delivering natural gas to Ukraine since the country is behind on its payments. The news rattled the region considering Gazprom is a major supplier to the entire European continent and supply disruptions could affect other economies.

The Treasury market, however, did not reflect a flight to safety as the 10-yr note finished in the red with its yield up five basis points at 2.79%.

Participation was a bit below average as 710 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.

Taking a look at economic data:

Nonfarm payrolls added 175,000 jobs in February after adding an upwardly revised 129,000 (from 113,000) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 163,000. Private payrolls were a little lighter, up 162,000 in February after adding 145,000 in January. The consensus expected private payrolls to increase by 170,000. Over the last several weeks, economists have pointed toward the winter weather as the reason for the recent economic slowdown. The above consensus result in the February employment report refutes that theory. Sectors that are normally impacted by weather events, such as construction of buildings (+100), reported positive payroll gains. These sectors should have seen a sizable pullback if weather was the root cause of the economic malaise.
The U.S. trade deficit widened in January to $39.10 billion from an upwardly revised $39.00 billion (from $38.7 billion) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected the trade deficit to fall to $37.30 billion. The goods deficit rose to $59.30 billion from $58.70 billion, a gain of $0.70 billion. The services surplus increased by $0.50 billion in January to $20.20 billion. Exports increased 0.6% in January to $192.50 billion. Almost all of the increase can be attributed to a $1.80 billion increase in exports of nonmonetary gold and a $0.20 billion increase in artwork sales.
Consumer credit increased by $13.70 billion in January after increasing a downwardly revised $15.90 billion (from $18.80 billion) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected consumer credit to increase by $11.80 billion in January.

Week in Review: Stocks Climb Despite Persistent Geopolitical Concerns

The stock market began the trading week on a defensive note after tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated over the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.9%) paced the decline while the S&P 500 lost 0.8% with all ten sectors ending in the red. Over the weekend, Russian troops increased their presence around several key strategic points located in the Crimean peninsula in Southern Ukraine. The troop deployment was authorized by the Russian parliament while Ukrainian authorities described the actions as an 'invasion.' With plenty of uncertainty abound, equities sold off broadly while traditional safe-haven assets received a bid. Treasuries settled on their highs with the benchmark 10-yr yield down five basis points at 2.60% while the Dollar Index (80.08, +0.39) gained 0.5%. Commodities saw interest with crude oil climbing 2.4% to $105.00/bbl while gold futures settled higher by 2.2% at $1350.40/ozt. In turn, the strength in gold gave a boost to miners, sending the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 26.18, -0.61) higher by 1.6%.

Equity indices enjoyed a broad-based rally on Tuesday that sent the S&P 500 (+1.5%) and the Russell 2000 (+2.5%) to new record closing highs. Stocks surged out the gate after index futures received a considerable bid around 1:00AM ET. The overnight strength came about after it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin called back the troops that were conducting exercises on the country's border with Ukraine. Mr. Putin commented on the tense situation, saying Russia is not aiming to annex the Crimean peninsula and that military force is a choice of last resort. The overnight developments were viewed positively by market participants who rushed into risk while shedding some of the safe-haven assets that were in strong demand on Monday. On that note, Treasuries spent the entire session in a steady retreat with the 10-yr yield ending at its session high (+9 bps at 2.69%); gold futures fell 0.9% to $1337.80/ozt; and crude oil lost 1.6%, ending at $103.34/bbl. The risk rally translated into solid gains for all ten sectors. The three largest S&P 500 groups-financials (+2.0%), technology (+1.5%), and health care (+1.9%)-paced the advance while most of the remaining groups added at least 1.0% with utilities (+0.8%) as the lone exception.

On Wednesday, the major averages posted modest losses after spending the entire session inside narrow ranges. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% while the S&P 500 shed less than a point. Individual sectors were split right down the middle for the entire trading day with five groups posting gains while the other five registered losses. The financial sector (+0.7%) took the lead shortly after the open and never relinquished its standing as top components rallied notably.

The stock market ended the Thursday session on a mixed note ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report for February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%) and S&P 500 (+0.2%) posted modest gains while the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%) lagged throughout the session. Biotech pressured the Nasdaq as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF ended near its session low, down 2.7%. Also exerting pressure on the Nasdaq was the technology sector, which ended flat.

 
 Index	    Started Week  Ended Week   Change   %Change  YTD % 
 DJIA	     16321.71	  16452.72	131.01    0.8	-0.7 
 Nasdaq	      4308.12	   4336.22	 28.10	  0.7	 3.8 
 S&P 500	1859.45	   1878.04	 18.59    1.0	 1.6 
 Russell 2000  1183.03	   1203.32	 20.29	  1.7	 3.4

4:26PM This week's biggest % gainers/losers (SCANX) : The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top 20 % gainers

Utilities: FCEL (3.53 +55.73%)
Technology: MXWL (15.06 +64.56%), PLUG (8.27 +45.54%), AAOI (25.29 +37.29%), WUBA (58.32 +27.63%), PWRD (25.03 +26.84%), SFUN (92.47 +25.13%)
Services: VIPS (166.55 +50.97%), CETV (4 +48.71%), DANG (18.66 +36.77%), WWE (29.64 +31.05%), BJRI (33.02 +24.8%), NPD (3.24 +24.71%), RENN (4.21 +22.47%)
Industrial Goods: ERII (5.98 +42.32%), BLDP (5.28 +41.9%), MY (4.07 +29.32%), HEES (38.47 +23.57%)
Healthcare: PPHM (2.4 +45%), RIGL (4.52 +25.56%)

This week's top 20 % losers

Technology: PRO (33.01 -20%), EPAM (36.42 -17.33%)
Services: ZU (58.47 -20.04%), APEI (36.69 -20%), SPLS (11.48 -15.55%)
Industrial Goods: HOV (5.08 -15.53%)
Healthcare: XOMA (6.33 -26.49%), CGEN (11.14 -21.34%), ELGX (14.16 -21.15%), MDVN (69.43 -19.73%), SNTA (5.13 -19.39%), NLNK (31.6 -19.35%), KYTH (45.02 -17.5%), AEGR (55.53 -17.49%), GEVA (98.44 -17%), CLDX (25.36 -16.52%), ZGNX (4.04 -15.79%), AKRX (22.45 -15.15%)
Financial: HCI (38.21 -20.33%), QIWI (36.83 -18.83%)

3:57PM Palo Alto Networks confirms Delaware District Court declares mistrial in patent infringement lawsuit initiated By Juniper Networks (JNPR) (PANW) 76.99 +7.54 : Co announced that today Honorable Judge Sue L. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware (the "Court") declared a mistrial in a lawsuit brought by Juniper Networks against Palo Alto Networks due to the jury being unable to reach a verdict.

"From the outset, we said we would vigorously defend the Company against Juniper's lawsuit," said Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of Palo Alto Networks. "We continue to stand by our position that we do not infringe on their patents and are committed to delivering innovation and providing the network security market with disruptive technologies."

The lawsuit is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and was filed by Juniper Networks in December, 2011. The Court's decision follows a trial which began February 24, 2014. A new trial date in this matter has not been scheduled by the Court.

12:57PM Midday Market Summary: Mixed at Midday (WRAPX) : At midday, the major averages trade mixed. The Dow (+0.1%) holds a slim gain while the Nasdaq (-0.4%) hovers in the red. For its part, the S&P 500 sits on its flat line.

The stock market began the trading day on a higher note, but the early strength faded quickly. The upbeat open took place after it was reported that February nonfarm payrolls surpassed estimates (175K versus Briefing.com consensus 163K). Although the headline number surprised to the upside, it suggested that the weather excuse, which has been used for just about every disappointing report this year, may have been overused.

Like yesterday, the Nasdaq led the retreat due to significant weakness in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 258.17, -2.97) is lower by 1.1% after being down nearly 3.0% shortly after the open. The underperformance of biotech has also reflected on the health care sector (-0.5%).

Although the biotech industry group has climbed off its lows, the Nasdaq has not seen a comparable snapback due to recent weakness in top-weighted technology components. Apple (AAPL 526.44, -4.31), Google (GOOG 1214.30, -5.31), Facebook (FB 70.15, -0.69), and Oracle (ORCL 38.95, -0.51) hold losses between 0.4% and 1.3%. The technology sector, meanwhile, trades down 0.4%.

Even though two of the three top-weighted groups lag, the S&P 500 has been able to hold its flat line thanks to the outperformance of industrials (+0.3%) and the continued strength of financials (+0.6%). Including the midday gain, the financial sector is higher by 3.1% this week versus a 0.9% increase for the S&P 500.

Another item at play that is likely contributing to participants reducing their risk exposure into the weekend is the continued uncertainty regarding the situation in Ukraine. Earlier, a Gazprom spokesman said the company could stop delivering natural gas to Ukraine since the country is behind on its payments. Since Gazprom is a major supplier to the entire European continent, the news weighed on regional equities, sending them to lows into the close.

Treasuries hover in the red, but they have climbed off their lows. The benchmark 10-yr yield is higher by six basis points at 2.79%.

Reviewing today's economic data:

Nonfarm payrolls added 175,000 jobs in February after adding an upwardly revised 129,000 (from 113,000) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 163,000. Private payrolls were a little lighter, up 162,000 in February after adding 145,000 in January. The consensus expected private payrolls to increase by 170,000. Over the last several weeks, economists have pointed toward the winter weather as the reason for the recent economic slowdown. The above consensus result in the February employment report refutes that theory. Sectors that are normally impacted by weather events, such as construction of buildings (+100), reported positive payroll gains. These sectors should have seen a sizable pullback if weather was the root cause of the economic malaise.
The U.S. trade deficit widened in January to $39.10 billion from an upwardly revised $39.00 billion (from $38.7 billion) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected the trade deficit to fall to $37.30 billion. The goods deficit rose to $59.30 billion from $58.70 billion, a gain of $0.70 billion. The services surplus increased by $0.50 billion in January to $20.20 billion. Exports increased 0.6% in January to $192.5 billion. Almost all of the increase can be attributed to a $1.8 billion increase in exports of nonmonetary gold and a $0.2 billion increase in artwork sales.

The January Consumer Credit report will be released at 15:00 ET.

12:32PM 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

HDB (37.74 +6.28%): Strength in large cap Indian banks: IBN also higher
PRU (89.06 +2.64%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
KR (44.03 +1.52%): Target raised to $48 from $41 at Telsey Advisory Group

Large Cap Losers

FEYE (81.38 -9.12%): Priced follow-on public offering of 14 mln shares at $82 per share
CRM (60.26 -4.56%): Initiated with a Neutral at B. Riley & Co
RIO (53.42 -3.49%): Seeing reports that co may pursue an acquisition of Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ)

Mid Cap Gainers

ITMN (34.82 +13.87%): Reuters reporting co is seeing takeover interest from several companies
FL (45.69 +6.93%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.06 ($0.82 ex items vs $0.76 estimate), revs rose 4.6% yoy to $1.79 bln vs $1.77 bln estimate; Q4 comparable-store sales rose 5.3% vs estimates of ~4.2%
COO (138.05 +6.12%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($1.47 ex items vs $1.46 estimate), revs rose 6.6% yoy to $405 mln vs $399.61 mln estimate; sees FY14 EPS of $6.75-7.00 (raised from $6.70-7.00) vs $6.81 estimate, revs of $1.685-1.725 bln (raised from $1.675-1.725 bln) vs $1.7 bln estimate

Mid Cap Losers

SEAS (32.68 -6.92%): Seeing reports that a California state lawmaker has proposed a bill to prohibit SeaWorld from using orcas in its San Diego shows
CDW (25.68 -4.16%): Priced public offering of 10 mln shares of common stock by a selling stockholder at $25.55 per share
HMHC (19.26 -3.17%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman, removed from America's Buy list; downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel

10:51AM ComScore reports Jan 2014 U.S. smartphone subscriber market share; Apple (AAPL) ranked as the top OEM with 41.6% of U.S. smartphone subscribers, up 1 percentage point from Oct (SCOR) 31.52 +0.08 :

comScore released data from comScore MobiLens and Mobile Metrix, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry for January 2014. Apple (AAPL) ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 41.6% OEM market share, while Google (GOOG) Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 51.7% platform market share. Google Sites ranked as the top mobile media property, while Facebook (FB) was the top individual app.
159.8 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (66.8% mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in January, up 7% since October. Apple ranked as the top OEM with 41.6% of U.S. smartphone subscribers (up 1 percentage point from October). Samsung (SSNLF) ranked second with 26.7% market share (up 1.3 percentage points), followed by LG with 6.9% (up 0.3 percentage points), Motorola with 6.4% and HTC with 5.4%.
Android ranked as the top smartphone platform in January with 51.7% market share, followed by Apple with 41.6% (up 1 percentage point), BlackBerry (BBRY) with 3.1%, Microsoft (MSFT) with 3.2% and Symbian with 0.2 percent.

F5 Networks (FFIV) target raised to $130 at RBC Capital Mkts

EMC (EMC) target raised to $31 at RBC Capital Mkts

8:33AM FuelCell Energy announces further progress with developing the on-site distributed hydrogen generation market with a $2.8 mln continuation of an award from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office to showcase the tri-generation capabilities of a Direct FuelCell power plant for industrial applications (FCEL) 2.99 : The co will install a sub-megawatt fuel cell power plant at its manufacturing facility in Torrington, Connecticut, to generate hydrogen, electricity and heat, replacing hydrogen that is currently purchased and delivered to the facility via truck, and replacing electricity purchased from the electric grid. The tri-generation DFC-H2 is expected to be operational by the end of 2014.

8:01AM SunEdison, Nationwide Mutual, Sol Systems and National Bank of Arizona announce financing for 13.4 MW solar electricity portfolio (SUNE) 21.09 : announced a $50 million fund to build a 13.4 megawatt (MW) solar portfolio for the State of California prison and hospital systems. Sol Systems advised Nationwide Mutual Insurance on the acquisition of the equity in the transaction. SunEdison secured long-term debt for the projects from the National Bank of Arizona (NBAZ). These projects mark the first time the companies have worked together on a solar project.

Finisar (FNSR) reported third quarter earnings of $0.44 per share, which is line with estimates, while revenues rose 23% year/year to $294 million which is slightly below estimates. The sale of products for datacom applications increased by $ 6.1 million, or 3.0%, compared to the preceding quarter. The sale of products for telecom applications decreased by $2.8 million, or (3.2)%, compared to the preceding quarter, primarily driven by the impact of one month of the annual price reductions for telecom products that typically take effect on January 1st. The company issued fourth quarter guidance with EPS of $0.38-0.42 and revenues of $290-305 million which is line with estimates. After taking into account the acquisition of u2t, including the elimination of any intercompany revenue or expense transactions with Finisar, the Company indicated that it currently expects revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 to be in the range of $296 to $311 million, non-GAAP gross margin of ~35.5%.

21Vianet (VNET) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.10 per share, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 34.4% year/year to $90.2 million which is line with estimates. The company issued first quarter guidance with revenues of $95-98 million which is line with estates. The company issued guidance for the fiscal year 2014 with revenues of $448-471 million which is line with estimates.

Qihoo 360 Tech (QIHU) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.70 per share, which is higher than elected, while revenues rose 115.3% year/year to $221.62 million which is line with estimates. Non-GAAP net margin was 43.5%, compared to 26.0% in the same period last year and 32.7% in the prior quarter. The year-over-year increase in non-GAAP net margin was also mainly due to leverage from strong revenue. The company issued guidance for the first quarter with revenues of i$226-228 million which in with estimates.

Ambarella (AMBA) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.26 per share, which is higher than expected, while revenues rose 27.0% year/year to $40 million which is line with estimates. Gross Margin: Gross margin on a non-GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 was 64.1%, compared with 63.3% for the same period in fiscal 2013. For the year ended January 31, 2014, non-GAAP gross margin was 63.5%, compared with 66.7% for the year ended January 31, 2013. Commentary: "During the fourth quarter we had revenue of $40M, up 26.8% from the same period last year. Our revenue for the whole fiscal year was up 30.2% from last year, while revenue from IP-security cameras more than doubled. In Q4 we introduced innovative surround-view solutions for the automotive market and collaborated with Google to explore new opportunities in wearable cameras. We look forward to driving continued innovation in the year ahead." The company sees first quarter revenues of $39-41 million which is line with estimates.