Replies to post #10700 on Sector Investing

[Zardiw]

Sorry wrong board....et z

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 10-Oct-14Dow -115.15 at 16544.10, Nasdaq -102.10 at 4276.24, S&P -22.08 at 1906.13

The stock market finished a defensive week on a cautious note. The S&P 500 lost 1.2% while the Nasdaq Composite (-2.3%) lagged throughout the session. The two indices ended the week with respective losses of 3.1% and 4.5%.

The key indices were pressured from the start amid big losses in the semiconductor space after Microchip Technology (MCHP 39.96, -5.59) issued a revenue warning, which was coupled with the company's nettlesome view that an industry correction is at hand. Part of Microchip's view was formed from the understanding that its business in China, which is traditionally the strongest in the third quarter and accounted for 29% of net sales in fiscal 2014, saw a sequential decline in sales this time around. Shares of MCHP sank 12.3%.

The comments led to broad weakness among chipmakers with the PHLX Semiconductor Index plunging 6.9%. The index dove below its 200-day moving average (594.27) and was down as much as 7.7% before finishing the day near April lows. The top-weighted index component-Intel (INTC 31.91, -1.71)-lost 5.1% while Cree (CREE 30.77, -0.09) withstood the bulk of the selling. That being said, the stock entered today's session with an October loss 24.6%.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the tech sector showed few signs of strength. Apple (AAPL 100.73, -0.29) shed 0.3%, but other heavyweights like Facebook (FB 72.91, -3.00), Google (GOOGL 555.19, -15.62), and Microsoft (MSFT 44.03, -1.82) lost between 2.9% and 4.0%.

Outside of technology, the materials sector (-1.5%) also lagged throughout the day with steelmakers pacing the slide. The Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 40.97, -1.15) lost 2.7%. Similarly, industrials (-1.5%) were unable to catch up to the broader market amid weakness in transport stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average fell 2.0% to cap a rough week that saw the bellwether complex lose 6.9%.

The remaining cyclical sectors showed some intraday strength, allowing the S&P 500 to make a short-lived appearance in the green. However, the index slumped to new lows over the course of the afternoon.

Likewise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.7%) spent some time in the green, but the intraday strength among blue chips faded into the close. The index was able to finish ahead of the broader market thanks to gains in consumer names like Coca-Cola (KO 44.47, +0.60), Procter & Gamble (PG 84.69, +1.03), and Wal-Mart (WMT 78.29, +0.43). For its part, the consumer staples sector added 0.5% to match the gain in the utilities sector. Despite its outperformance, the Dow surrendered its 2014 advance.

Also of note, the Dollar Index (85.90, +0.38) rose 0.4%, posting its second consecutive advance. However, today's rally could not save the index from registering a 0.9% loss for the week.

Treasuries spent the bulk of the day near their flat lines before rallying into the close. The 10-yr yield slipped two basis points to 2.29%.

Once again, participation was above average with more than 920 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Investors received just one economic report this morning:

Export prices, excluding agriculture, decreased 0.2% in September after decreasing 0.2% in the prior reading
Excluding oil, import prices ticked down 0.1%, which followed last month's unchanged reading

There is no economic data of note on Monday's schedule.

Week in Review: Growth Concerns Send Stocks Lower

On Monday, the stock market enjoyed a good start and that was about it. The major indices hit their best levels of the session within fifteen minutes of the opening bell and then spent the rest of the morning retracing those gains. The afternoon session produced a half-hearted rebound try, yet the major indices couldn't stake a position on positive ground when the closing bell rang. M&A activity failed to stir broad-based buying interest and a surprise announcement indicating Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) will split into two companies did not help either.

The market ended Tuesday on the lows after spending the entire day in negative territory. The Russell 2000 led the way, sliding 1.7%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5% with all ten sectors ending in the red. Equity indices were pressured from the start with the early weakness being attributed to a disappointing Industrial Production report from Germany (-4.0%; expected -1.5%), which represented the largest drop in activity in almost six years. Growth concerns were also on the mind of IMF economists as the Fund lowered its 2015 global growth forecast to 3.8% from 4.0%. Fittingly, the macroeconomic worries weighed on most cyclical sectors, while energy (-1.3%) tried to withstand the broad pressure. The sector, which lost 3.8% during the previous week, displayed modest intraday strength, but slumped in the afternoon amid a noteworthy drop in crude prices (-1.7% to $88.81/bbl).

Equities rallied broadly on Wednesday with the S&P 500 spiking 1.7% after the release of the FOMC minutes from the September meeting. The key indices began the day near their flat lines following another reminder about slowing global growth. To that point, China's HSBC Services PMI slipped to 53.5 from 54.1 (expected 53.8), but remained above 50.0, which marks the difference between expansion and contraction. Despite the shaky start, stocks soared after the FOMC minutes crossed the wires. Most notably, the minutes acknowledged that growth concerns overseas could have an impact on the U.S. through a strengthening dollar, which would lead to a decline in inflation expectations. This was viewed as an indication that the Fed would not rush to raise the fed funds rate, but instead maintain its accommodative policy stance. Treasuries spiked from lows to new highs in response (10-yr yield -3 bps to 2.31%) while the Dollar Index (85.27, -0.40) slumped to a two-week low.

Stocks followed Wednesday's sharp rally with an even sharper slide that clipped all ten sectors. The S&P 500 lost 2.1% and slid back below its 100-day moving average (1962.28) while the Russell 2000 tumbled 2.7%. Equities began the trading day with modest losses, but the energy sector (-3.7%) was a notable laggard from the start once again. That prevented the broader market from turning positive while the relative weakness among most of the remaining cyclical sectors allowed for the selling to feed on itself. The energy sector registered its largest one-day loss since surrendering 4.0% in April 2013 with crude oil contributing to the weakness. West Texas Intermediate crude plunged 2.4% to $85.22/bbl while Brent crude slipped below the $90.00/bbl level for the first time in more than two years.

 
 Index	    Started Week  Ended Week	 Change	 % Change   YTD % 
 DJIA	      17009.69	    16544.10	-465.59     -2.7   -0.2 
 Nasdaq	       4475.62	     4276.24	-199.38	    -4.5    2.4 
 S&P 500 1967.90       1906.13     -61.77	    -3.1    3.1 
 Russell 2000   1104.74       1053.32	 -51.42     -4.7   -9.5

5:08 pm 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:EBR (2.81 +18.25%),CIG (6.75 +16.27%),CZZ (10.82 +12.15%)
Services:RENT (71.84 +19.7%),RT (7.05 +13.67%),JMEI (24.52 +12.27%),GOL (4.88 +12.13%)
Industrial Goods:GFA (2.42 +11.89%)Healthcare:DRTX (23.56 +99.49%),UNIS (3.15 +34.62%),CFN (57.22 +26.73%),GTIV (19.46 +18.12%),IPXL (27.24 +12.78%),BDX (127.87 +12.11%)
Financial:HCI (44 +17.12%),BBD (15.03 +14.37%),EXAM (36.48 +13.37%),ITUB (14.53 +12.49%)
Basic Materials:PBR-A (16.55 +27.57%),PBR (15.62 +25.24%)

This week's top 20 % losers

Technology:GSAT (1.8 -30.46%),KFX (5.84 -23.5%),TXTR (21.1 -21.66%),OIBR-C (0.55 -19.3%)
Services:TCS (16.06 -28.86%),JCP (7.12 -20.66%),VLCCF (7.03 -20.38%),CTCM (5.05 -18.71%)
Industrial Goods:AEGN (17.01 -21.73%),GTI (3.72 -20.27%)
Healthcare:ARWR (6.37 -50.29%),NLNK (18.13 -22.76%),PTCT (34.59 -19.01%)
Consumer Goods:SODA (20.64 -24.62%)
Basic Materials:EXXI (7.9 -29.38%),CLF (7.32 -26.1%),ACI (1.5 -25.24%),EMES (83.19 -21.76%),CRK (13.74 -19.48%),EOX (4.33 -18.77%)

5:03 pm Peregrine Semi: Japan Fair Trade Commission approves the Murata acquistiion of Peregrine Semi (PSMI) : Co announces that the Japan Fair Trade Commission has informed Peregrine that it has granted clearance of the proposed merger with Murata Electronics North America, Inc. The approval is subject to a 30-day waiting period set to terminate on October 12, 2014.

4:16 pm Closing Market Summary: Stocks Slump to End Cautious Week (:WRAPX) : The stock market finished a defensive week on a cautious note. The S&P 500 lost 1.2% while the Nasdaq Composite (-2.3%) lagged throughout the session. The two indices ended the week with respective losses of 3.1% and 4.5%.

The key indices were pressured from the start amid big losses in the semiconductor space after Microchip Technology (MCHP 39.96, -5.59) issued a revenue warning, which was coupled with the company's nettlesome view that an industry correction is at hand. Part of Microchip's view was formed from the understanding that its business in China, which is traditionally the strongest in the third quarter and accounted for 29% of net sales in fiscal 2014, saw a sequential decline in sales this time around. Shares of MCHP sank 12.3%.

The comments led to broad weakness among chipmakers with the PHLX Semiconductor Index plunging 6.9%. The index dove below its 200-day moving average (594.27) and was down as much as 7.7% before finishing the day near April lows. The top-weighted index component-Intel (INTC 31.91, -1.71)-lost 5.1% while Cree (CREE 30.77, -0.09) withstood the bulk of the selling. That being said, the stock entered today's session with an October loss 24.6%.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the tech sector showed few signs of strength. Apple (AAPL 100.73, -0.29) shed 0.3%, but other heavyweights like Facebook (FB 72.91, -3.00), Google (GOOGL 555.19, -15.62), and Microsoft (MSFT 44.03, -1.82) lost between 2.9% and 4.0%.

Outside of technology, the materials sector (-1.5%) also lagged throughout the day with steelmakers pacing the slide. The Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 40.97, -1.15) lost 2.7%. Similarly, industrials (-1.5%) were unable to catch up to the broader market amid weakness in transport stocks. The Dow Jones Transportation Average fell 2.0% to cap a rough week that saw the bellwether complex lose 6.9%.

The remaining cyclical sectors showed some intraday strength, allowing the S&P 500 to make a short-lived appearance in the green. However, the index slumped to new lows over the course of the afternoon.

Likewise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.7%) spent some time in the green, but the intraday strength among blue chips faded into the close. The index was able to finish ahead of the broader market thanks to gains in consumer names like Coca-Cola (KO 44.47, +0.60), Procter & Gamble (PG 84.69, +1.03), and Wal-Mart (WMT 78.29, +0.43). For its part, the consumer staples sector added 0.5% to match the gain in the utilities sector. Despite its outperformance, the Dow surrendered its 2014 advance.

Also of note, the Dollar Index (85.90, +0.38) rose 0.4%, posting its second consecutive advance. However, today's rally could not save the index from registering a 0.9% loss for the week.

Treasuries spent the bulk of the day near their flat lines before rallying into the close. The 10-yr yield slipped two basis points to 2.29%.

Once again, participation was above average with more than 920 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Investors received just one economic report this morning:


Export prices, excluding agriculture, decreased 0.2% in September after decreasing 0.2% in the prior reading

Excluding oil, import prices ticked down 0.1%, which followed last month's unchanged reading

There is no economic data of note on Monday's schedule.
S&P 500 +3.1% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +2.4% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.2% YTD
Russell 2000 -9.3% YTD

Week in Review: Growth Concerns Send Stocks Lower

On Monday, the stock market enjoyed a good start and that was about it. The major indices hit their best levels of the session within fifteen minutes of the opening bell and then spent the rest of the morning retracing those gains. The afternoon session produced a half-hearted rebound try, yet the major indices couldn't stake a position on positive ground when the closing bell rang. M&A activity failed to stir broad-based buying interest and a surprise announcement indicating Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) will split into two companies did not help either.

The market ended Tuesday on the lows after spending the entire day in negative territory. The Russell 2000 led the way, sliding 1.7%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.5% with all ten sectors ending in the red. Equity indices were pressured from the start with the early weakness being attributed to a disappointing Industrial Production report from Germany (-4.0%; expected -1.5%), which represented the largest drop in activity in almost six years. Growth concerns were also on the mind of IMF economists as the Fund lowered its 2015 global growth forecast to 3.8% from 4.0%. Fittingly, the macroeconomic worries weighed on most cyclical sectors, while energy (-1.3%) tried to withstand the broad pressure. The sector, which lost 3.8% during the previous week, displayed modest intraday strength, but slumped in the afternoon amid a noteworthy drop in crude prices (-1.7% to $88.81/bbl).

Equities rallied broadly on Wednesday with the S&P 500 spiking 1.7% after the release of the FOMC minutes from the September meeting. The key indices began the day near their flat lines following another reminder about slowing global growth. To that point, China's HSBC Services PMI slipped to 53.5 from 54.1 (expected 53.8), but remained above 50.0, which marks the difference between expansion and contraction. Despite the shaky start, stocks soared after the FOMC minutes crossed the wires. Most notably, the minutes acknowledged that growth concerns overseas could have an impact on the U.S. through a strengthening dollar, which would lead to a decline in inflation expectations. This was viewed as an indication that the Fed would not rush to raise the fed funds rate, but instead maintain its accommodative policy stance. Treasuries spiked from lows to new highs in response (10-yr yield -3 bps to 2.31%) while the Dollar Index (85.27, -0.40) slumped to a two-week low.

Stocks followed Wednesday's sharp rally with an even sharper slide that clipped all ten sectors. The S&P 500 lost 2.1% and slid back below its 100-day moving average (1962.28) while the Russell 2000 tumbled 2.7%. Equities began the trading day with modest losses, but the energy sector (-3.7%) was a notable laggard from the start once again. That prevented the broader market from turning positive while the relative weakness among most of the remaining cyclical sectors allowed for the selling to feed on itself. The energy sector registered its largest one-day loss since surrendering 4.0% in April 2013 with crude oil contributing to the weakness. West Texas Intermediate crude plunged 2.4% to $85.22/bbl while Brent crude slipped below the $90.00/bbl level for the first time in more than two years.

4:06 pm Tessera Tech announced that a California state court confirmed Tessera, Inc.'s arbitration award and entered judgment of $128,335,504 plus post-judgment interest against Amkor Technology (TSRA) : announced today that a California state court confirmed Tessera, Inc.'s arbitration award and entered judgment of $128,335,504 plus post-judgment interest against Amkor Technology, and that the U.S. Patent Office confirmed the patentability of key claims in a Tessera patent that Amkor had challenged in an inter partes review proceeding. The patent was one of several at issue in the arbitration.

Tessera also announced today that the U.S. Patent Office's Patent Trial and Appeals Board issued a favorable IPR decision confirming the patentability of 14 out of 16 challenged claims in Tessera, Inc.'s U.S. Patent 6,046,076. The '076 patent was one of several patents at issue in the arbitration between Tessera and Amkor.

3:30 pm Earnings Preview for the week of October 13 - 17 (:SUMRX) : Of the companies reporting earnings for the week of October 13 - 17 some of the bigger names include:

Tuesday: Pre Market - JPM, WFC, C, JNJ, JBHT, WWW, DPZ, DFRGAfter Hours - INTC, CSX, LLTC, MRTN, ADTN, OZRK, SURG

Wednesday: Pre Market - BAC, PNC, BLK, ASML, STJ, KEY, IGTE, CBSH, MTGAfter Hours - AXP, EBAY, KMI, LVS, KMP, URI, NFLX, UFPI, HNI, NAVI, EPB, UMPQ, RLI, PTP, BMI, AF, CNS

Thursday: Pre Market - UNH, DAL, GS, PM, TSM, BHI, DHR, BAX, PPG, SVU, GWW, BBT, MAT, DOV, BX, FITB, SCHW, ADS, SON, SNA, POOL, FRC, VAC, FCS, BGG, WGO, WBS, CY, FCFS, PVTB, WNS, IIIN, NTCT, HOMB, SASR, TZOOAfter Hours - GOOG, SLB, COF, CCK, SYK, SNDK, AMD, XLNX, CYT, PBCT, ASBC, WTFC, ATHN, QLGC, CPHD, WAL, WDFC, EGP, COBZ

Friday: Pre Market - GE, HON, MS, BK, TXT, STI, HBAN, KSU, CMA, FHN, KNL

12:11 pm 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

INFY (62.87 +5.82%): Beat expectations by INR2.19, reported revs in-line, also reaffirmed FY15 sales +7-9%.
PEP (95.61 +2.19%): Higher following positive mention on Thursday's Mad Money.
NLSN (42.22 +2.25%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Pivotal Research; tgt raised to $50 from $48.

Large Cap Losers

AVGO (71.27 -11.58%): Weakness in semiconductors following dissapointing guidance from Microchip (MCHP) (NXPI & TXN also lower).
TSLA (241.91 -5.87%): Name cooling off after run-up into Model D announcement; also negative mention on Thursday's Mad Money.
FAST (42.89 -4.05%): Reported EPS in-line, revs in-line.

Mid Cap Gainers

BVN (11.53 +4.82%): Provided Q3 production and FY14 production guidance.
ISIS (38.31 +2.85%): Reported data from ISIS-SMN Rx Phase 2 studies in infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy.
IDA (55.5 +1.57%): Broad strength in utlities as seen as a safe haven during market volatility (SCG & SWX also higher).

Mid Cap Losers
MTW (18.21 -15.42%): Manitowoc sees Q3 revs below consensus; downgraded at BMO, BBT.
KN (20.56 -15.08%): Sees Q3 revs of ~$301 mln vs $319.83 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.36-0.40 vs $0.48 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; downgraded at a boutique firm.
MCHP (39.95 -12.27%): Sees Q2 revs of $546.2 mln vs $565.86 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; downgraded at Needham, Drexel Hamilton.

11:38 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session- New lows (112) outpacing new highs (3) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: COST, INFY, MO

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ABB, ADI, ALB, ALLY, ALTR, ALU, AMD, APO, ARCC, ARCP, ARMH, ASNA, BABA, BHP, BP, BTU, CA, CBI, CBS, CCJ, CHK, CIE, CNHI, CNX, COG, CREE, DAR, DB, DDD, DISCA, DNOW, DNR, EMR, ERIC, ESV, ETN, EXPD, F, FAST, FEYE, FIG, FLO, FLR, FMC, FMER, FULT, GGB, GM, GNW, GPOR, GSK, HOG, JOY, KBR, KGC, KING, KN, KOS, L, LINE, LLTC, LNCO, LPI, LUK, MBT, MOS, MRC, MT, MTW, MUR, MXIM, NBL, NE, NWSA, OAS, OC, OCN, OI, OII, P, PE, PGH, PNR, PWE, QEP, QIHU, RDC, RIG, ROSE, RRC, SD, SDRL, SINA, SWN, TCK, TEF, TEX, TLM, TPH, TRMB, TS, UBS, UTX, VIAB, VIP, VOD, WDR, WEN, WPG, XLNX, YOKU, ZNGA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: HYD, IEF, SHY, TLH, TLT

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BJK, BNO, CROP, CUT, DBC, EFA, EPOL, EWG, EWI, EWN, EWO, EWQ, EWU, EWY, EZU, GSG, HYG, IEO, IWC, IWM, JNK, KOL, OIH, OIL, PBW, REMX, SEA, SLX, TBT, UGA, URA, USO, UWM, VGK, XES, XHB, XME, XOP

Note: To reduce the list of stocks making 52 week highs/lows to a manageable size we have filtered out stocks below $2 bln in market cap and below 1 mln average volume. Without this filter 18 stocks made 52 week highs and 653 stocks made 52 week lows.

9:46 am Chip stocks (SMH -4%) the primary laggard this morning following MCHP (-11%) warning (SMH) : The chip sector (SMH) is testing its 200 day moving averages at a 4 month low.

MCHP -11.3%, NXPI -10.4%, AVGO -10.2%, FSL -8.6%, ATML -8.2%, ONNN -7.8%, FCS -7.5%, CAVM -7.8%, IDTI -6.7%, TXN -6.6%, ADI -5.8%, MU -5.8%, FNSR -5.4%, LEDS -5.1%, CY -5.1%, MXIM -5.1%, XLNX -4.8%, SOXX -4.5%, LLTC -4.1%, IFNNY -4.1%, SYNA -4.1%, SMH -4%, TSL -3.9%, SNDK -3.8%, ALTR -3.7%, BRCM -3.7%, AMAT -3.4%, KLAC -3.2%, LRCX -2.8%, MRVL -2.8%, SPWR -2.8%, STM -2.6%, INTC -2.5%, CRUS -2.3%, AMD -2.4% TSM -1.5%

Tech Stocks

You can lead, follow, or get out of the way. On Friday, the S&P 500 information technology sector did all three.

It led the broader market's losses with a 2.8% decline.

It followed Thursday's big drop with another big drop.

And it got out of the way of buyers who seemed to want no part of it after an earnings warning from Juniper Networks (JNPR 19.04, -1.90) and an industry warning from Microchip Technology (MCHP 39.96, -5.58).

Briefly, Juniper Networks dialed back its third quarter EPS and revenue outlook, citing lower than anticipated demand from service providers, particularly in the U.S. The company now expects third quarter non-GAAP diluted EPS to range from $0.34 to $0.36 versus its prior guidance of $0.35 to $0.40. Revenues are forecast to be between $1.11 billion and $1.12 billion, down from its prior guidance of $1.15 billion to $1.20 billion.

The biggest warning of the day, though, came from Microchip Technology. The developer, manufacturer, and seller of semiconductor products for various embedded control applications lowered its third quarter sales outlook to $546.2 million from a range of $560.0 million to $579.9 million. Microchip said the revenue miss was led by China where the September quarter is traditionally the strongest. Excluding ISSC, sales in China are expected to be down sequentially in the September quarter. In FY14, China accounted for 29% of Microchip's net sales.

The big blow came, however, with Microchip's pronouncement that it believes an industry correction has begun. That revelation eviscerated the semiconductor group where declines of 5.0% or more were not uncommon. To wit:

Intel (INTC 31.91, -1.71) surrendered 5.1%
Texas Instruments (TXN 42.74, -3.28) dropped 7.1%
Analog Devices (ADI 43.46, -2.88) declined 6.2%
Micron Technology (MU 27.79, -2.85) fell 9.3%
Atmel (ATML 6.70, -0.77) plunged 10.3%
Fairchild Semiconductor (12.33, -2.16) plummeted 14.9%Xilinx (XLNX 36.82, -3.37) gave up 8.4%
Lam Research (LRCX 65.91, -6.65) lost 9.2%; and
Applied Materials (AMAT 19.83, -1.04) slipped 5.0%

The list goes on, yet it's illustrative of how bad things were on Friday for the semiconductor sector.

With the broad-based sell-off, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index declined as much as 7.7% at one point before ending the day down 6.9%. For some perspective, a 6.9% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average would translate into a loss of 1,150 points based on Thursday's closing price.

The heavy selling wasn't exclusive to the semiconductor stocks. Juniper's warning precipitated declines of at least 3.0% for Cisco (CSCO 23.34, -0.85), F5 Networks (FFIV 107.12, -8.19), Ciena (CIEN 14.52, -1.03), and Alcatel Lucent (ALU 2.42, -0.15).

The left-right combination of the aforementioned warnings also hit the likes of Sanmina (SANM 17.01, -2.79) and Flextronics (FLEX 9.06, -1.04) quite hard.

Separately, Symantec (SYMC 21.94, -1.50) was another big story stock of the day. After Thursday's close, the security and systems management solutions company said it will split into two independent, publicly traded companies as part of an effort to maximize growth opportunities and drive greater shareholder value. Investors didn't appear all that enthused by the news. Shares of SYMC declined 6.4%.

For the second day this week, all 66 components in the S&P 500 information technology sector ended with a loss. That brought to a close what was an otherwise particularly bad week for the sector, which declined 4.2%.

For the week, the Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500, S&P 400, and Russell 2000 fell 2.8%, 4.5%, 3.1%, 4.4%, and 4.7%, respectively.