Replies to post #6780 on Sector Investing

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Major Market Indices on 3 Year Weekly Charts - Also included are the SOX/SMH and BKX because they are so important to the overall direction of the market:

[vernie]

Return to Sender what kind of signals do you get from the value line arithmic chart.

What is its value and why would one want to track it?

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Stocks snapped a two-day winning streak Tuesday as policy makers failing to back down on their inflation concerns and mixed corporate news left investors questioning the sustainability of a 4 1/2-month rally.

Per usual, all eyes were fixed on today's FOMC meeting. With much of the market's Q4 rally predicated on the possibility of the Fed easing no later than March, investors were especially interested to see whether policy makers would reveal any clues pertaining to the timing of an eventual cut in interest rates. However, there were almost no changes in the wording of the policy directive, and thus, no evidence to support the market's optimism that rate cuts are on the way.

The inclusion of the word "substantial" in the statement to describe the cooling of the housing market garnered some added attention, but that modifier only seemed to excite bond traders as stocks languished in the red all afternoon.

Fortunately for the bulls, the ensuing rally in Treasuries that pushed the yield on the 10-year note (+07/32) down three basis points to 4.49% provided enough of a floor for rate-sensitive bank stocks to help offset profit taking in two of the Financials sector's biggest names.

With Citigroup (C 52.24 -0.64) up more than 4% over the last two days, the Dow component merely naming a new COO, but stating there will be no other management changes, prompted investors to take some money off the table. As expected, Goldman Sachs (GS 200.19 -2.33) handily topped analysts' expectations for a fourth straight time. However, the stock succumbed to some profit taking after having been bid up to the tune of 37% from its September lows in anticipation of another record quarter.

With Financials finishing flat, that left the second most influential sector in focus -- Technology. As evidenced by the Nasdaq turning in the day's worst performance among the majors, the absence of tech leadership weighed on sentiment throughout the session. The biggest drag on the sector was Apple Computer (AAPL 86.16 -2.59), which dropped nearly 3% after a report suggested iTunes sales are collapsing.

Texas Instruments (TXN 29.77 +0.47) was another focal point as its lowered Q4 guidance was viewed as benign and even garnered an analyst upgrade. Yet, it's 1.6% advance was no match for consolidation across the sector.

Consumer Discretionary was another weak spot. Best Buy (BBY 51.29 -2.63), which missed analysts' earnings expectations, led the way with a 5% decline while Federated Department Stores (FD 38.00 -1.50) tacking on a 3.8% decline to yesterday's 2.2% downgrade-induced drop placed additional pressure on retailers. DJ30 -12.90 NASDAQ -11.26 SP500 -1.48 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1900/1146/1.95 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1865/1412/1.46 bln

3:55PM Market View: Indices work off lows but still range bound (TECHX) : A weaker bias dominated for much of the session but it was essentially more of the same despite a midday slide and post-Fed volatility as trading ranges noted over the last week or so (Nasdaq Comp 2459-2416, S&P 500 1418-1403, Dow 12360-12243) remained intact. The modest afternoon bounce leaves the indices near the midpoint of their ranges. Weighing on the action have been Steel -4.3%, Airline -2.4%, Coal -2.2%, Mining -1.7%, Restaurant -1.3%, Computer-Hardware -1.2%, Transports -1.1%, Disk Drive -1% and Retail -0.9%. Limited strength has noted in Telecom HOLDRs +0.8%, Regional Bank HOLDRS +0.6%, Utility +0.4% and Insurance +0.3%.

6:23AM AMD and IBM detail early results using immersion and ultra low-K in 45nm chips : At the Intl Electron Device Meeting today, IBM (IBM) and AMD (AMD) presented papers describing the use of immersion lithography, ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics, and multiple enhanced transistor strain techniques for application to the 45nm microprocessor process generation. AMD and IBM expect the first 45nm products using immersion lithography and ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics to be available in mid-2008

4:00 pm General Electric (GE)

35.65 +0.43: Dow component General Electric provided investors with a reassuring outlook at its aptly-named "annual outlook meeting." Its stock has gotten a boost as a result, but true to recent form, GE hasn't proven to be much of a market-mover.

Its lack of influence is a conundrum of another sort, but setting that point aside, today's update should be viewed as good news for GE investors and the broader market.

The industrial giant expects to close out 2006 with 13-16% EPS growth in the fourth quarter, which translates to a profit of $0.62-0.64 per share (consensus $0.64), and 2-3 times GDP organic revenue growth. Those numbers in turn put the company on track to deliver a full-year profit of $1.97-1.99 per share (consensus $1.98) which would be up 15-16% from 2005.

GE's 2007 guidance accounts for some deceleration in profit growth, but a forecast for 10-13% EPS growth, or $2.17-2.23, isn't shabby by any means, particularly when one takes into account the more pessimistic economic outlook that is priced into the Treasury market. Once again, the bottom-line growth is expected to be driven by organic revenue growth that it is 2-3 times GDP.

It is worth noting that the consensus revenue forecast for FY07 is pegged at $175.8 billion or 8% above the consensus estimate for 2006. Keeping that in mind, it's fair to say that GE isn't expecting a recession next year.

The market still has its share of skeptics with respect to the pace of economic growth, though, and that played a part in why GE's good news didn't ignite a broad market rally.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

2:33 pm FOMC Stays the Course

The Federal Reserve policy statement released today at 2:15 ET gave no indication that the rate cuts the market is expecting in 2007 are on the way.

The Fed left the current fed funds target at 5.25%. That was expected. The policy statement was little changed. It continued to emphasize the risk of inflation.

In fact, the paragraph on inflation was exactly the same, and still said, "Readings on core inflation have been elevated, and the high level of resource utilization has the potential to sustain inflation pressures." This shows the Fed is not backing down on its inflation concerns.

The only change in the entire statement was the previous statement of "Economic growth has slowed over the course of the year, partly reflecting a cooling of the housing market. Going forward, the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace."

The latter was changed to "Economic growth has slowed over the course of the year, partly reflecting a substantial cooling of the housing market. Although recent indicators have been mixed, the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace on balance over coming quarters." That modest change probably doesn't reflect much of a change in sentiment at the Fed.

There just isn't much evidence to support the market's optimism that rate cuts are on the way.

The fed funds futures contracts were priced this morning with an assumption of a 1/4% rate cut by May of 2007. Futures assume another rate cut by late summer, and yet another rate cut by the end of the year. That makes for three rate cuts that would take the fed funds rate target down to 4.50%.

In order for the Fed to do that, core inflation rates would probably have to drop down under 2%. They are currently at about 2.50%. That is a significant move and would probably only occur with economic growth slowing further. That doesn't appear to be developing.

Today's policy statement in itself probably won't do it but the market needs a wake up call that its Fed policy outlook is too optimistic.

--Dick Green, Briefing.com

11:29 am Citigroup (C)

52.03 -0.85: Citigroup's stock has been stuck in a rut for some time. In fact, when December began Citigroup had risen a mere 6.3% since the start of 2004 versus a 27.5% gain for the S&P 500.

Fortunately, Citigroup's investors have received added compensation with dividend payments that have lifted Citigroup's total return to 19%. Being in a business that is all about outperformance, however, it is fair to say that Citigroup's stock has been a big disappointment relative to the S&P 500 and S&P Financial sector, which have logged total returns of 34.5% and 39.2% over the same period.

It was little surprise, then, that Citigroup's stock caught a bid this week on speculation that it may soon announce a break-up of the company that would presumably spark stronger growth and bolster shareholder value. The momentum behind that rumor was curious considering CEO Chuck Prince went on record earlier this year saying the idea of breaking up the company was "the dumbest idea I ever heard of."

It was also rumored that CFO Sallie Krawcheck might leave the company. Citigroup ultimately denied the Krawcheck rumor. As for the break-up, well, that apparently is not what Citigroup has been considering of late.

Instead, Citigroup announced last night that it has named Robert Druskin, President and CEO of Corporate and Investment Banking, to be Chief Operating Officer. While Druskin will remain CEO of the Corporate and Investment Banking unit, Michael Klein and Thomas Maheras will take over day-to-day operations and serve as co-Presidents of that key business segment. The new roles for Klein and Maheras suggest to some that they have moved ahead of Krawcheck in the line of possible CEO successors.

The management changes haven't been met with enthusiasm, not so much because these individuals aren't able leaders, but because the market has been clamoring for a plan that offers clear potential for stronger growth - and adding another layer of management isn't what it had in mind. Accordingly, Citigroup's stock is down today in a disappointment trade that is grounded in the belief that it will remain business as usual for Citigroup and its stock.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

10:06 am Goldman Sachs (GS)

201.41 -1.11: The venerable investment bank known as Goldman Sachs might as well be referred to these days as Golden Sachs, because the fourth quarter results the bank reported this morning capped a fiscal year that was flat-out golden.

To be sure, Goldman Sachs is a tough act to follow for the other investment banks that will be reporting their results. Lehman Bros. (LEH) and Bear Stearns (BSC) are due out later this week. Heck, Goldman Sachs has made it hard on itself as its stellar performance has created some very challenging comparisons in the year ahead, not to mention some lofty expectations.

The market recognizes that business isn't likely to continue at such a fevered pitch, as the FY07 consensus EPS estimate is $17.93 or 9% lower than what Goldman reported for FY06. That point notwithstanding, Goldman Sachs' performance and the current market outlook underscore its investment appeal and validate why Briefing.com has long held a bullish view of the stock, calling it a favorite investment idea in the financial sector.

For the fiscal year, Goldman's net revenues surged 49% to $37.67 billion, net earnings rose 69% to $9.54 billion, and diluted EPS increased 76% to $19.69. Records were set in its investment banking, FICC, equities, principal investments, and asset management businesses.

The company did an admirable job, too, of keeping expenses in check relative to its net revenue growth. With employment levels up 12%, the ratio of compensation and benefits expenses to net revenues slipped to 43.7% from 46.6%. Non-compensation expenses, meanwhile, jumped 28%.

In many respects, the fourth quarter was a microcosm of the full-year as Goldman's Trading and Principal Investments segment powered a huge quarter in which net revenues jumped 47% to $9.41 billion and net earnings soared 93% to $3.15 billion. The latter translated to a diluted profit of $6.59 per share, including stock option expense, that exceeded the Reuters Estimates consensus estimate by $0.59.

The Trading and Principal Investments business accounted for 70.5% of fourth quarter net revenues, followed by Asset Management (15.2%) and Investment Banking (14.2%). From a trading standpoint, the only soft spot noted was in currencies and mortgages, which saw lower net revenues than the year-ago period. Still, the Trading and Principal Investments business achieved 57% growth year-over-year and 37% growth on a sequential basis.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

10:01 am Dollar General (DG)

15.18: Investors in Dollar General Corp. (DG) put in their two cents regarding DG's latest earnings Tuesday as they took the shares slightly lower in premarket trade. The discount retailer reported third quarter earnings of $0.14 per share, excluding $79.2 million in inventory changes and planned store closings. That was $0.01 worse than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.15. Revenues rose 7.3% year over year to $2.21 billion versus consensus of $2.22 billion.

DG announced in late November that it would shut about 400 stores and record $138 million in charges as it attempts to revive sales growth. The company said same-store sales rose 2% in the latest period.

While it's undergoing some revamping, the company's results and fundamentals pale in comparison to that of much more solid competitor Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO), which beat on its most recent earnings report. We've taken a bullish stance on FDO since May, and we continue to favor FDO over DG.

--Christine Marie Nielsen, Briefing.com

09:54 am Nucor (NUE)

64.35: Nucor, the second largest steelmaker in the US, reduced its fourth quarter profit forecast due to lower steel prices, higher inventories, and record imports. The move took the market by surprise, sending steel stocks lower in pre-market trading. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company estimated profits of $1.05 to $1.15 per share. Comparatively, NUE reported record net income of $1.68 per share last quarter.

As a mini-mill, which uses scrap metal to make steel, Nucor is seen as a barometer for the broader steel industry in terms of pricing trends. As such, the downdraft in forecasts will weigh on other mini-mills including Steel Dynamics (STLD), IPSCO (IPS), and Commercial Metals (CMC). Nucor stated spot prices for sheet and bars are lower than expected and scrap prices have remained higher than anticipated, weighing heavily on margins. Further, it stated record levels of finished steel are delaying an inventory correction, the balancing out of which will depend heavily on a significant reduction in import volumes from China.

Mini-mills, which are non-union, are generally more efficient than the integrateds that make steel from scratch, including US Steel (X) and AK Steel (AKS). Steel stocks have been one of the best performers this year based on fundamentals as well as global consolidation. This run may come to an abrupt end, at least for the near-term, as pricing concerns prevail over heated expectations for major deals which we anticipate will likely include X and AKS.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

09:32 am Best Buy (BBY)

53.92: Shares of Best Buy traded sharply lower on Tuesday, after the electronics retailer posted lower than expected quarterly earnings, as an extremely competitive environment put pressure on margins. The stock, which is up nearly 25% this year, fell more than 5% in pre-market trading following the announcement.

For its fiscal third quarter, Best Buy reported net income of $150 million, or $0.31 per share, compared with $138 million, or $0.28 per share, in the year ago period. Analysts, however, were expecting a higher profit of $0.35 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Meanwhile, quarterly revenue rose 15.5% year/year to $8.47 billion, narrowly beating the consensus estimate of $8.45 billion. Growth in the quarter was attributed to new store openings and strong sales in the consumer electronics segment. The company added 227 new stores in the quarter, and recorded a comparable store sales gain of 4.8%, reflecting a mix shift toward higher-ticket items, such as flat panel televisions, which posted a strong double-digit comparable store sales increase.

Gross margin for the period was 23.5% of revenue, a decrease from 24.4% in the same quarter last year. The company said the 90 basis point decline was driven primarily by higher promotional spending and increased mix of lower-margin products, such as notebook computers and gaming systems.

Still, Best Buy reaffirmed its full-year outlook as it begins its important holiday quarter, due to new store openings, market share gains and cost controls. The company said it continues to see earnings in a range of $2.65 to $2.80 per share, versus analysts' estimate of $2.82 per share. It also forecast same store sales between 4% to 5%, up from its previous estimate of 3% to 5%.

At the current price level, Best Buy shares are trading at 19.1x this year's projected earnings, compared to 22.5x for rival Circuit City Stores (CC). Despite lower than expected quarterly earnings amid increased competitive pressures, we believe the stock remains poised for further gains as it continues to benefit from strong demand for consumer electronics ahead of the holiday season, as well as strong underlying fundamentals.

--Richard Jahnke, Briefing.com

09:25 am Texas Instruments (TXN)

29.30: In a scheduled business update, Texas Instruments lowered the bar for the fourth quarter, reflecting conditions within the wireless market. The downdraft in semiconductor revenues was attributed to higher demand for low-end over high-end handsets in addition to weakness within the 3G market. Given industry weakness in analog, market participants were expecting tempered guidance from TI. But the severity of the revision came as a surprise and is reflective of broader industry trends.

While management did not provide specific guidance for the first quarter, it indicated that the fourth quarter book to bill will likely come in below 1 and revenues would decline sequentially. As a result, consensus estimates are likely to be revised even lower. Across the board, analysts have been reducing FY06 and FY07 estimates over the past month. Consensus EPS now stands at $1.66 and $1.82, respectively.

The near-term worsening in fundamentals will likely weigh on the stock despite a positive outlook over the longer-term based on TI's strong product cycle in 3G, high-performance analog, and market share gains. And while the bulls would point to TXN's attractive valuation of 16.0x forward earnings, we wouldn't be looking to step in until after the first quarter seasonality runs its course.

TI's guidance underscores trends within the wireless market. While handset demand remains healthy, a greater percentage of overall growth is coming from the emerging markets through the proliferation of low-end phones. Manufacturers have been gaining market share as penetration rates rise, but are feeling the pinch in profitability as average selling prices decline.

As a greater than 10% customer, TI's update will likely result in downside pressure in shares of Nokia (NOK) as well as other manufacturers including Motorola (MOT) given the industry implications. While MOT has remained a suggested holding in our Active Portfolio given its leading product portfolio and improving profitability, overriding concerns over pricing pressure continue to weigh on the stock. Therefore, the stock is currently being reviewed for removal given Q1 seasonality. As such, investors should be selling into any strength.

The specifics of TI's revised guidance are as follows. It took its fourth quarter revenue estimate to $3.35-$3.50 bln, representing a 7-11% sequential decline. This is a marked decline from its prior estimate of flat to an 8% sequential decline to $3.46-$3.75 bln. The main culprit was the semiconductor segment, where TI estimates Q4 revenues of $3.28-$3.42 bln, down 4-8%. Again, this is a significant change from previous guidance of a decline of 5% to a gain of 2% sequentially to $3.39 bln to $3.66 bln. As a result, EPS was lowered to $0.37 to $0.40 (vs. $0.40-$0.46), which is even greater than the downdraft in revenue due to reduced utilization rates as it attempts to reduce inventories.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

09:04 am Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ)

36.30: Shares in Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NDAQ) were a little over 1% higher in premarket trade Tuesday after the parent of the Nasdaq stock exchange formally launched a hostile $5.3 billion takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange Group PLC. An NDAQ-LSE combination would create the world's largest equity market by number of listings. LSE shareholders have until Jan. 11 to accept or reject NDAQ's offer.

Media reports said LSE executives contended the terms - just a smidgen above the $5.1 billion offer rejected by LSE executives in November - were too low. The decision is not really in their hands, however. In pitching its terms directly to shareholders, NDAQ reduced the number of acceptances needed to 50% from 90%. LSE executives have urged shareholders to reject the offer.

The equity-exchange sector has taken on a world-wide scope in recent days. NDAQ, in particular, hopes to position itself against a European exchange to be created by seven major investment banks and the New York Stock Exchange's (NYX) proposed deal for a handful of Euronext exchanges. NDAQ beat on both its top and bottom lines in the latest period.

We continue to view NDAQ shares as attractive as the company acts on an ambition to be a leading force in the hot exchange space. Also worth noting is that the company has seen 83% quarterly revenue growth on a year over year basis, yet it trades at a considerable discount to NYX shares at 54.2x trailing 12-month earnings compared to about 83.5x. Indeed, NYX shares were losing some ground early Tuesday.

(Disclosure: Briefing.com has a business relationship with Nasdaq)

--Christine Marie Nielsen, Briefing.com

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : What was shaping up to be a very strong start to 2007 actually ended on a rather lackluster note, as diminishing hopes of a possible interest rate cut left the sustainability of a nearly six-month rally in stocks up for debate.

With U.S. markets closed Tuesday to commemorate the recent passing of President Ford, and equity markets rallying around the world, investors feeling left behind embraced upbeat corporate news, some positive analyst commentary, falling oil prices and the seasonality factor to get back into buying mode.

As a reminder, today marked the second-to-last trading day of the classic year-end Santa Claus rally which, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac, has resulted in an average return of 1.5% for the S&P 500 since 1950. In fact, an influx of new fund inflows that typically hit the market on the first day of trading for the month/quarter/year, as evidenced by the biggest volume in several weeks, provided an additional floor of market support.

After contracting for the first time in more than three years, the ISM index rebounding to 51.4 in December (from a sub-50 read in November) provided even more confirmation that manufacturing is holding up nicely, helping to alleviate the worst of recession fears. In fact, the report more than offset monthly ADP employment data that suggested Friday's closely-watched and more credible Dec. jobs report will disappoint.

Throw in Wal-Mart (WMT 47.50 +1.32) providing an additional vote of confidence about the health of the consumer, after saying December same-store sales rose more than expected, the surprise resignation of Home Depot (HD 41.12 +0.96) Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli, and bargain hunters jumping at the chance to buy last year's worst performing Dow component, Intel (INTC 20.32 +0.07), and Wednesday had all the makings of a broad-based rally. Intel was up more than 3% at one point, providing a huge boost for the influential Tech sector.

Be that as it may, with the market pricing in the chances of a soft landing for the U.S. economy and an eventual Fed rate cut, investors already anxious about what the FOMC minutes from the December 12 meeting would say about inflation and the direction of Fed policy grew even more concerned in afternoon trading.

At 2:00 ET, investors sifted through a report showing that all Fed members agreed that the risk of inflation failing to moderate remained the "predominant concern." With the market even more preoccupied about the pace of economic growth, several policy makers also acknowledging that the "downside risks to economic growth in the near term had increased a little," with economic activity in the second half of this year probably "a touch softer than had been expected," also took a toll on overall sentiment. In fact, today's volatile action resulted in the biggest range for the Dow (175 points) since August 2006.

Oil prices posting their biggest one-day decline (-4.5%) since April 27, 2005 (-4.8%), was another source of support; but the subsequent absence of leadership in the Energy sector (-3.7%) also served as a reminder of how crucial profits from the likes of explorers, drillers, refiners and integrated oil companies are to the overall earnings picture. Crude for February delivery slipped below $59/bbl for the first time since November 24 and closed at $58.32/bbl after the National Weather Service called for warmer temperatures through the 15th of January in the U.S. Northeast, the largest customer of heating oil. DJ30 +11.37 NASDAQ +7.87 SP500 -1.70 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1496/1624/2.30 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1870/1863/2.24 bln

4:04PM Cirrus Logic acquires China's Caretta Integrated Circuits for $10.5 mln (CRUS) 6.99 +0.11 : Co announces it has purchased all of the outstanding stock of Caretta Integrated Circuits, a fabless integrated circuit design co based in Shanghai. In connection with the acquisition, Cirrus Logic paid Caretta's stockholders $10.5 mln in cash and has agreed to pay certain employees a potential earn-out based on financial performance over the next two years. The co expects to recognize a one-time charge of $1 mln to $4 mln in the Dec quarter of 2006. This transaction is expected to be neutral to earnings per share in calendar 2007.

8:06AM Pixelplus announces rulings from Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Korea Intellectual Property Office (PXPL) 1.60 : Co announced it obtained a "completely positive and affirmative ruling" from the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Korea Intellectual Property Office granting the co's request to effectively cancel and invalidate the disputed contact hole process patent claimed by MagnaChip Semiconductor. The co, however, did not obtain a positive ruling from KIPO on the cancellation and invalidation of the disputed color filter patent alleged by MagnaChip. To reverse this ruling and obtain a positive decision on the color filter patent, the co will file an appeal with the Patent Court. Despite KIPO's ruling on the color filter patent, the co is pleased it received completely favorable and commendatory rulings from KIPO on three of the four patents granting the co's request to effectively cancel and invalidate the disputed photo diode and sensor patents in September 2006 and also the disputed contact hole process patent discussed above.

8:04AM Rambus and Qimonda sign technology license for XDR DRAM (RMBS) 18.93 : Co announced that Qimonda (QI), a global producer of DRAM memory products, recently signed a technology license agreement for the Rambus XDR memory interface solution. The Rambus XDR solution will be implemented in Qimonda's 75nm process technology for integration into high-volume applications, including game consoles, digital televisions, set-top boxes and PC graphics.

3:41AM Fairchild Semiconductor to launch tender offer for System General (FCS) 16.81 : Co announces that it expects to launch a tender offer to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Taipei-based System General Corporation for NTD 93 per share in cash through a wholly owned Fairchild subsidiary.

09:53 am Xilinx: Nollenberger Capital initiates Buy. Target $28. Nollenberger initiates XLNX with a Buy and $28 tgt. Firm thinks that despite the supply chain inventory correction that both Altera and Xilinx are weathering in the December quarter and possibly in CQ1, investment in both stocks entering the seasonally stronger period for PLDs is a solid investment strategy. Firm believes growth momentum should return in C2Q07.

09:54 am Altera: Nollenberger Capital initiates Buy. Target $26. Nollenberger initiates ALTR with a Buy saying despite the supply chain inventory correction that both Altera and Xilinx (XLNX) have been weathering in the December quarter, and may also in C1Q, investment in both stocks entering the seasonally stronger period for P.L.Ds is a solid investment strategy.The firm believes ALTR shares should trade at a premium to XLNX, given Altera's faster growth rate, increasing market share, and higher gross margins.

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AMD Still Bleeding

By Alexei Oreskovic
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
1/23/2007 5:00 PM EST

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/techsemis/10334272.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FRE...

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating) swung to a loss in the fourth quarter because of acquisition-related charges and a continuing price war, which crushed the chipmaker's profit margins.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., chipmaker said Tuesday that it had a net loss of $574 million, or $1.08 a share, in the fourth quarter.

AMD attributed $1.04 of the loss to its recent acquisition of graphics chipmaker ATI, meaning that AMD's EPS excluding the charges were -0.4 cents.

That's well below the average analyst expectation, which called for AMD to earn 10 cents a share.

AMD's sales in the fourth quarter were more or less in line with analysts' dampened expectations. The company said sales in the fourth quarter were $1.77 billion, compared with the average analyst expectation of $1.73 billion.

But AMD's outlook for the current quarter was soft, with the company projecting sales between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion, vs. analyst expectations of $1.81 billion.

Shares of AMD slipped 6 cents to $17.45 in extended trading.

In a statement, AMD CFO Robert Rivet said the company believed that it had gained market share in the fourth quarter "by continuing to execute against our customer acquisition strategy and our product, technology and manufacturing plans."

The price of the market share gains are being felt in AMD's gross margins however, which tumbled to 40% in the fourth quarter; at this time last year, AMD's gross margin was 57%.

AMD has been locked in a price war with Intel (INTC - commentary - Cramer's Take - Rating), which controls a dominant share of the PC microprocessor market, for several months.
Last week week Intel reported better-than-expected, fourth-quarter financial results and said its unit shipments and its average selling prices increased. But Intel projected stagnant gross margins for 2007, raising fears that the price war between Intel and AMD was not about to let up.

AMD warned the Street earlier this month that it's fourth-quarter results would fall short of its initial expectations due to "significantly lower" microprocessor prices.

AMD's stock, which plunged more than 10% after the warning, has yet to recover from the news, finishing Tuesday's regular session at $17.51, just slightly above its 52-week low.

AMD said total unit shipments surged 26% year over year and 19% sequentially, with mobile microprocessors leading the way with 41% sequential growth.

Shipments of server chips were flat sequentially with average selling prices down significantly, AMD said.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Evidently, the absence of potentially troubling economic data a day earlier did help investors place more of an emphasis on the "good" news embedded in earnings reports because today's mixed earnings news and economic data dashing hopes of a Fed rate cut anytime soon took a toll on sentiment.

The major averages opened mixed as investors weighed the sustainability of yesterday's impressive rally against another round of better than expected results. Dow component AT&T (T 36.84 0.21) was the day's biggest name, opening at a multi-year high (+2.6%) after beating expectations and guiding for double-digit EPS growth this year and next. Nonetheless, blue-chip buyers began showing some reserve early on, especially after the Dow hit record levels and the S&P 500 hit six-year highs Wednesday.

The Nasdaq wasn't faring much better early on as it was clinging to a small gain following unexpectedly strong results from tech companies like eBay (EBAY 33.65 +3.65) and Qualcomm (QCOM 38.16 -0.46). eBay, a recommended holding in the Briefing.com Active Portfolio, was up as much as 18% last night following its encouraging Q4 report and still closed up 8%. Be that as it may, a two-day hiatus from any economic reports also left investors anxiously waiting to see if the housing market was still showing signs of stabilization.

Then, at 10:00 ET, existing home sales for December checked in shy of economists' forecasts and, for all of 2006, fell 8.4% -- the largest annual decline in 17 years. While that was responsible for a knee-jerk reaction in stocks that exacerbated the temptation to take some of yesterday's gains off the table, the worst was yet to come.

Fed funds futures, which were pricing in a nearly 50% rate cut before June, erased all expectations of a Fed easing. As a result, bonds began selling off, which lifted the yield on the 10-year note to five-month highs and left investors pricing in a more hawkish Fed stance just days before the next FOMC meeting. Such concerns weighed heavily on the rate-sensitive and influential Financials sector.

Since higher interest rates spark valuation concerns among growth stocks, Technology found itself under some additional profit-taking pressure. That was especially evident on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which surrendered nearly all of Wednesday's 1.4% advance. In fact, Microsoft (MSFT 30.45 -0.64), which is also a Dow component and the fourth most influential constituent on the S&P 500, was up as much as 1.3% at 4 1/2-year highs earlier in the session. However, the overwhelmingly bearish bias eventually weighed on the software giant as investors growing nervous about tonight's Q2 report closed the stock at its worst level of the day and down 2.1%.

On a positive note, oil prices plunged 2.1% to close at $54.23/bbl, but subsequent absence of leadership from Energy (-2.0%) -- today's worst performing sector -- and the failure of transportation stocks to take notice raised another wall of worry about current valuations. Sure, the bulk of earnings reports were again better than expected today; but the percentage of those beating estimates (~55%) running below normal (65-70%), and the number of blowout reports not as large as in recent quarters, merely fed into underlying worries about decelerating profit growth. BTK -1.4% DJ30 -119.21 DJTA -1.4% DJUA -0.6% DOT -0.8% NASDAQ -32.04 NQ100 -1.4% R2K -1.3% SOX -0.5% SP400 1.2% SP500 -16.23 XOI -2.1% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2146/883/2.15 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2551/771/1.70 bln

4:37PM Magma Design reports in-line; guides in-line (LAVA) 8.38 -0.38 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.06; revenues rose 9.1% year/year to $45.1 mln vs the $44.7 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.05-0.09, ex items vs. $0.09 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $46-50 mln vs. $49.00 mln consensus.

4:34PM Sanmina-SCI reports Q1 EPS above consensus, revs below consensus; issues in-line Q2 guidance (SANM) 3.41 +0.02 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.06; revenues fell 2.9% year/year to $2.78 bln vs the $2.8 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.05-0.07 vs. $0.06 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $2.65-2.75 vs. $2.72 bln consensus.

4:34PM Skyworks reports Q1 results in-line; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (SWKS) 7.00 -0.07 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, in line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.13; revenues fell 1.2% year/year to $196 mln vs the $196.4 mln consensus. Co issues guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.09-0.11 vs. $0.10 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $180 mln vs. $187.25 mln consensus.

4:24PM Zarlink Semi beats by $0.04, issues downside Q4 guidance (ZL) 2.19 +0.07 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.04 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of ($0.00); revenues fell 8.8% year/year to $34.1 mln vs the $34.6 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of -$0.01 to $0.00 vs. $0.01 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $32-34 vs. $35.76 mln consensus. Co also says "In line with our industry peers, we expect to see this market slowdown continue into the fourth quarter. However, as we continue to focus on opportunities in optoelectronics, network communications, low-power wireless telemetry, and analog foundry, I am confident that when the semiconductor market rebounds we are well-positioned for long-term success."

4:20PM Microsoft beats by $0.03; guides in-line (MSFT) 30.45 -0.64 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, $0.03 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.23; revenues rose 6.0% year/year to $12.54 bln vs the $12.08 bln consensus. MSFT reports Q2 revenue deferral of $1.64 bln vs $1.5 bln prior guidance. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.45-0.46 vs. $0.46 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $13.7-14.0 bln vs. $14.01 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY07, sees EPS of $1.45-1.47 vs. $1.46 consensus; sees FY07 revs of $50.2-50.7 bln vs. $50.48 bln consensus and prior guidance of $50-50.9 bln.

4:19PM Western Digital reports $0.04 above consensus (WDC) 20.80 -0.03 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.57 per share, $0.04 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.53; revenues rose 13.0% year/year to $1.43 bln vs the $1.36 bln consensus.

3:59PM Market View: Stock indices reverse (TECHX) : The rebound off early week lows in the S&P 500 was fractionally extended in opening trade, setting a new 6yr intraday high in the process, but this proved to be the high for the session. Whether it was concern about earnings (smaller percentage of stocks beating expectations, fewer blowout reports), a jump in the 10-Yr Yield to a new five month high or the technical failure near a Fib extension target mention yesterday at 1439, the market trended steadily lower for the remainder of the day. The slide resulted in a negative outside day/lower close for several averages and brought the 20 exp back into play for the S&P 500 and the Dow (Nasdaq 100 near 50 exp), which is where the indices stabilized early in the week. The reversal was accompanied by broad based selling with Housing -3.2%, Broker/Dealer -2.7%, Coal -2.7%, Oil Service HOLDRs -2.2%, Oil -2.1%, Restaurant -2%, Disk Drive -2%, Airline -1.9%, Networking -1.7%, Natural Gas -1.7% and Media -1.7% pacing the way. Little was on the plus side other than Steel +1.9% Internet HOLDRs +0.8%, Medical Supplies +0.5% and REITs +0.4%.

12:31PM Semi HOLDRs -SMH- extends pullback off 50 sma (TECHX) 33.69 +0.10 : Noted resistance at its 50 sma (34.25) in the 09:48 update with the SMH reversing after a morning test (session high 34.27). The decline has stalled at 33.64 which marks the top of the Jan 18-Jan 24 consolidation. Intraday need a recovery off this level back above the 33.79/33.82 area to help neutralize the developing weaker intraday action (click for chart). Support below unchanged (33.59) is in the 33.46/33.40 area.

8:09AM Cypress Semi reports in-line (CY) 17.12 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.15 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.15; revenues rose 20.3% year/year to $287 mln vs the $288.3 mln consensus. Co states, "Cypress's business remains fundamentally solid with a book-to-bill ratio of 0.96 and 86% of the first quarter booked, going into the quarter. We expect routine seasonality in our core semiconductor business, and are seeing some softness in certain communications-related markets--especially cell phone basestations--but we currently do not anticipate any significant or prolonged slowdown in 2007."

8:02AM RF Micro Device receives GaN purchase order from military supplier (RFMD) 7.82 : Co announces announces it has received its first purchase order from a top-tier military supplier for a new product using RFMD's gallium nitride high electron mobility transistor process technology. RFMD began efforts to commercialize GaN technology in 2000 and expects to commence first shipments in the FH of calendar 07.

7:11AM Kulicke & Soffa beats on top and bottom lines, guides Q2 revs below consensus (KLIC) 8.53 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.09 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of ($0.01); revenues fell 25.6% year/year to $152.3 mln vs the $144.4 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of "about $140 mln" vs. $150.48 mln consensus. "This is primarily the result of lower equipment sales anticipated in the March quarter. In addition, capillary and wire unit volumes are expected to be seasonally lower due to the lunar New Year holidays in February."

09:21 am Qualcomm (QCOM)

38.62: Shares of Qualcomm traded higher on Thursday after the wireless chip maker posted a 5% increase in first quarter profits on record 3G handset and chipset shipments, and reaffirmed its outlook for the full-year. The stock, which has shed more than 18% over the past year amid several legal disputes and increasing competition, gained 2% in pre-market activity following the announcement.

Despite the better than expected results, persistent legal issues with Broadcom (BRCM) and regulatory complaints in Europe from several competitors, as well as ongoing negotiations with Nokia (NOK) over a technology license pact that expires in April, remain significant overhangs on the stock. Accordingly, we believe the current risk/reward does not warrant an investment, and we would not be committing money to the stock at this time.

For its fiscal first quarter, Qualcomm earned $648 million, or $0.38 per share, up from $620 million, or $0.36 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding stock-based compensation, earnings were $0.43 per share - a penny better than the Reuters Estimates consensus. Revenue rose 16% year/year, and 1% sequentially, to $2.02 billion, driven by strong demand for 3G handsets, but fell just short of analysts' estimate of $2.07 billion.

Based on the latest results, Qualcomm projected second quarter earnings of $0.42 to $0.44 per share on revenue between $2.0 and $2.1 billion. That is in line with analysts' expectations, according to Reuters Estimates. It expects to ship between 55 and 57 million chipsets in the quarter, up from 49 million in the same period last year. For the full-year, the company still expects earnings to be in a range of $1.72 to $1.77 per share on revenue of $8.1 to $8.6 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $1.78 per share on $8.56 billion.

--Richard Jahnke, Briefing.com

08:54 am Nokia (NOK)

20.21: This round goes to the Finns. After Motorola's (MOT) abysmal fourth quarter results, which were led by a severe contraction in handset margins, expectations for Nokia were cautious at best. Even though the world's largest handset maker has been producing a myriad of new, compelling models, market pricing pressures remain as competition has intensified.

But for Nokia, its shares are skyrocketing in Europe after the company delivered a better than expected interim result despite falling handset prices.

The Finland-based company reported revenues of 11.7 billion euros and earnings of 0.30 euros versus consensus of 11.6 billion euros and 0.28 euros, respectively. The upside likely came from stronger gross margins, which bounced back 250 basis points from last quarter to 32.4%. Operating margins increased 110 basis points to 13.3% from 12.2% in last year's quarter.

Nokia's device ASPs did decline, as expected, to 89 euros, from 93 euros in the prior year. Meanwhile, device volumes posted a healthy 19% sequential, and 26% year over year, increase to 106 million units.

Overall, the handset market posted healthy growth rates in the quarter, which are estimated at 19% in terms of global Q4 device units. Nokia's market share was left unchanged at 36% compared to last year, but it was up two points from the third quarter. The company expects ASP declines for the entire market in 2007.

Speaking of 2007, Nokia estimates market unit volumes will grow up to 10% versus a 20% run rate over the past few years. This fact, coupled with declining ASPs, will make for a challenging profit environment for the entire group. For investors looking for names in techland, we would suggest looking elsewhere.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

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PLXS Charts:





Plexus Shares Fall After Lowered Outlook
Thursday January 25, 11:51 am ET
Plexus Shares Tumble Day After Company Lowers Outlook; Analysts Reduce Price Targets

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070125/plexus_mover.html?.v=1

AP (AP) -- -- Shares of electronics manufacturer Plexus Corp. fell more than 14 percent Thursday morning, the day after the company issued second-quarter guidance below Wall Street's expectations.

Analysts were disappointed in the forecast and lowered their earnings estimates, but they noted the historic volatility of the company's stock and did not downgrade it.

The Neenah, Wis.-based company, which also lowered its full-year sales growth guidance, predicted a second-quarter profit between 15 cents and 19 cents per share on sales between $345 million and $355 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expect a profit of 35 cents per share on sales of $403.1 million.

Bear, Stearns & Co. analyst Kevin Kessel lowered his price target to $22 from $28, but maintained his "Outperform" rating.

"While we are very disappointed we didn't anticipate the operating leverage impact better, we still think it's a mistake to downgrade near the bottom ($17.65 after-market close), especially given how volatile Plexus is," Kessel wrote in a research note. "Barring a macro tech recession, we believe PLXS will see improved growth and profitability beginning in the June quarter and continuing throughout 2007-2008."

Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. analyst Carter Shoop maintained his "Hold" rating on Plexus, but lowered the company's price target to $16 from $24.

Shares of Plexus fell $2.86, or 13.5 percent, to $18.36 in morning trading on the Nasdaq. Earlier in the session, the set a fresh 52-week low of $17.78. The stock has traded between $18.08 and $47.05 in the past year.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=plxs

http://www.smartmoney.com/pricecheck/index.cfm?story=worksheet&symbol=PLXS&nav=pc_snaps

RtS

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Amateur Investors Weekend Market Update:

http://www.amateur-investor.net/Weekend_Market_Analysis_Feb_17_07.htm

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : After seeing roughly $1.8 trillion in world market value erased last week, it was anyone's guess as to whether continued fears of a global economic slowdown would carry over into today's trading. To the dismay of the bulls relishing an eight-month winning streak on the S&P 500 before last week's sell-off, tepid bargain-hunting efforts Monday were eventually met with another aggressive round of profit taking.

Further deterioration in overseas markets ushered in a new week of nervousness, which merely reminded investors that oversold markets tend to get more oversold before a bottom can be formed. Japan's Nikkei plunged 3.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng led the way a 4.0% decline, as a rising yen continued to feed fears about the ramifications of carry trades being unwound by hedge funds that borrowed money at low rates.

The European bourses lost about 1.0% on average while the Nasdaq led the way domestically, tacking a 1.2% decline onto last week's 5.8% drubbing. All 10 economic sectors posted losses; of the 147 S&P industry groups, 138 closed lower.

On a positive note, St. Louis Fed President Poole dismissed fears of a recession for the second time in as many trading sessions. However, he also discounted the need for possible government intervention, saying it doesn't make sense to respond to stock market declines unless they're extremely large and disruptive. Poole said that it would take a 1987-like market meltdown to justify interest rate cuts.

Adding insult to injury to a market now fixated on everything negative and inundated with overblown recession fears was another round of negative developments in the sub-prime mortgage space. New Century Financial (NEW 4.38 -10.27) tumbled 70% after reports of a federal criminal probe exacerbated concerns about a domino effect knocking over the prime lenders as well.

Countrywide Financial (CFC 35.17 -1.85), already under additional pressure after being downgraded at Lehman Brothers, was the worst performer (-5.0%) in the Financials sector. As the most influential of the 10 S&P sectors, the financial sector's 1.6% decline was among the biggest reasons for yet another day of disappointment for the bulls. DJ30 -63.59 NASDAQ -27.32 SP500 -13.05 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2491/592/2.15 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2736/595/1.87 bln

4:47PM TranSwitch announces a workforce reduction (TXCC) 1.28 +0.01 : Co announces a workforce reduction which is being implemented in two phases. The majority of the approx 20 employees affected will leave the co by the end of 1Q07 and a small group will stay until the end of 2Q07. This workforce reduction primarily affects U.S. Research and Development personnel.

4:36PM Microchip issues Q4 guidance (MCHP) 35.44 +0.27 : Co sees Q4 EPS of $0.36 ex items, vs $0.33 Reuters consensus; expects Q4 sales to be flat to slightly up from Q3 sales of $251 mln, vs $253.01 mln Reuters consensus. "Bookings and turns were unseasonably strong through February... With the Lunar New Year now behind us, we anticipate further strengthening of business fundamentals in March, and are thus comfortable with this financial guidance. With improving trends in the business, we are confident that the trough of the current inventory correction cycle is behind us. With growth anticipated in the June and September quarters, we are preparing our manufacturing capabilities, predominantly in assembly and test, to be able to respond to increased demand in the business."

4:11PM Xilinx narrows Mar qtr sales guidance to flat to down 4% sequentially, vs prior guidance flat to down 5% sequentially (XLNX) 24.40 -0.52 : Co narrows Mar qtr sales guidance to flat to down 4% sequentially, vs prior guidance flat to down 5% sequentially. (This equates to roughly $433-451 mln vs $440.4 mln consensus) Gross margin guidance is unchanged and expected to be approximately 61%, including $2 million of stock-based compensation. As a result of the convertible debt offering and concurrent share buyback, Xilinx expects the share count reduction to have a minimal impact to fourth quarter 2007 results. Other Income will be approximately $19 mln. For fiscal year 2008, the Company expects a fully diluted share count of approximately 300 million based on the current stock price. Other Income will decline by approximately $31-32 million per year. All the repurchases of common stock are conditioned upon the closing of the offering of the debentures.

2:52PM Sector Watch -- 50/200 Day-Alert (TECHX) : The stock indices are mixed but have seen some stabilization thus far today. The Nasdaq Comp is holding above it 200 ema (2343-- session low 2343), the S&P 500 at Nov lows (1377/1375-- session low 1376.84) while the Dow rotated higher after a minor/short lived move under last wk's low off the open. Clearly the market has work to do just to suggest that a corrective bounce is under way but wanted to present sectors/ETFs that have held at or near support (50 or 200 day averages) as the indices attempt to stabilize following last week's breakdown. Those holding near their 50 day include: Defense (DFI), Health Provider (RXH), Healthcare (HMO), Tobacco (TOB), Trucking (DJUSTK), Steel (DJUSST), Building Materials (XLB). Sectors vacillating near support at their 200 day average include: Airline (XAL), Software (GSO), Consumer Staples (XLP), Technology (XLK), Health (XLV), Pharma (PPH), Home Construction (XHB back near after early penetration), Finance (XLF), Regional Bank (RKH), Banking (BKX), Broker/Dealer (XBD).

12:00PM Intel and AmberWave Systems Corporation announce settlement of strained silicon patent infringement litigation and license agreement (INTC) 19.34 +0.12 : INTC and AmberWave Systems Corporation have settled all patent infringement suits pending between them related to AmberWave Systems strained silicon patent portfolio. Under the agreement, INTC has received a license to all AmberWave patents and patent applications either existing today or filed during the agreement's ten-year term. The companies also have agreed to continuing discussions and evaluation of AmberWave's ongoing technology research and development efforts. INTC will make license payments to AmberWave over the term of the agreement. All other terms of the agreement are confidential.

11:59AM Bond Watch: Trade Cannot Find Traction (BONDX) : The market is offered on little beyond the resurgence in stocks, with global bonds gaining bids in a nearly worldwide run for quality. Treasuries started well, but lapsed once apparent short-covering fueled a bounce on the other side. As equities drift back off the market will regain its footing & make another run for the up-side especially as most data on the late week schedule are expected to come in far from rosy, even as the bar for a poor payrolls report gets ratcheted down. Today's ISM report, even with the market having lowered expectations, was significantly worse than even the sunniest of the dismal-scientists'/economists' predictions in a Bloomberg survey. The media have begun the slow draw down on expectations for the payrolls, with the WSJ kicking off the week on the under, reporting, "The big day on the data front comes Friday, with the February jobs report, which could well show the first sub-100,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls in more than two years." Ouch. ISM services expanded at the slowest pace since Katrina's back in Sep 05. The dollar paid minor attention as mixed flows continue to hold the buck comparatively steady to its big counterparts. The euro is near unchanged at 1.3103 while the yen is giving a fraction of its enormous gains back at 116.0600. Spot gold is down at 640.47 (-1.98) though off lows of 633.50 while crude oil is weak at 60.25 (-1.39). The 10-yr yield is up at 4.503%. For more bond & economic commentary click here.

9:02AM InterVoice announces it believes revs for Q4 will be at or around the lower end of the $48-$52 mln tgt provided (INTV) 6.36 : Co sees Q4 (Feb) revs at or around the lower end of $48-52 mln vs. $46.74 mln Reuters Estimates consensus. In addition, the Company's solutions backlog as of the end of the fourth fiscal quarter is expected to be in the range of $52 million to $55 million, up from $46.3 million at the end of the third fiscal quarter. Co stated, "A significant contract was received later than initially anticipated and caused fourth quarter top-line results to be less than the midpoint of the target range." The Company further announced that it anticipates recording approximately $2 million in severance and other unanticipated fourth quarter charges. In addition, positive cash flow from operations during the quarter is expected to result in a cash balance of between $24 million and $27 million, up from $17.9 million at the end of the third fiscal quarter.

08:14 am New Century REIT: Friedman Billings reiterates Underperform . Target $23 to $10. Friedman Billings cuts their tgt on NEW to $10 from $25 noting the co filed a form 12b-25, citing reasons for the inability to file a timely 10-K. The firm ntoes the filing raises questions regarding the co's viability, given the currently adverse operating environment. They believe NEW is under severe liquidity strains for several reasons: it has not yet been able to convince all warehouse lenders to waive certain covenants; the restatement appears to result in a larger loss than initially suggested; and several different governing bodies have indicated that they are launching investigations.

09:55 am Adv. Micro Devices (AMD)

There is little doubt that Intel (INTC 19.29, +0.07), a suggested holding in Briefing.com's Active Portfolio, has turned up the competitive heat on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 13.79, -0.39) with its new product line-up. The proof is in the numbers, and specifically in AMD's revenue warning for the fourth quarter, and now, for the first quarter.

In a statement today that was released before CEO Hector Ruiz's appearance at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, it was noted that AMD will say that it is unlikely to meet its previously issued guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion in revenue for the first quarter.

No other detail was provided, so two schools of thought will emerge. The first is that AMD's warning speaks to an environment of otherwise sluggish demand for PCs. That is a plausible thought given that this is a seasonally weak period and that the impact of Vista won't be more pronounced until later in the year. The second thought is that overall demand isn't that bad and that AMD's warning is a direct consequence of aggressive pricing competition from Intel which is bent on regaining lost market share.

Neither scenario is particularly encouraging for investors in either company since it implies profit margin pressure will be seen. Intel's financial strength, though, and its lead over AMD in next-generation technology are reasons why we prefer it over AMD, which we told investors to avoid after its third quarter report which revealed a startling drop in gross margins. Including today's decline, AMD is down 36% since its third quarter report.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

09:31 am Palm Inc. (PALM)

It was only a matter of time. Shares in the creator of the old school PDA, the PalmPilot, posted their biggest gain in more than three years Friday on speculation the company would be acquired. Today, the Wall Street Journal reported Palm Inc. (PALM, 17.62), which has been beset by taxing competitive conditions, is working with investment bankers to explore its strategic options.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company continues to face a challenging environment brought upon by an onslaught of competition delivering thinner, lighter, hipper, and cheaper designs. Product delays have only added to its downfall, dragging down revenues and profits. Palm has responded by diversifying its product portfolio and distribution arrangements, and enhancing designs.

Monday's WSJ article said the company is currently working with Morgan Stanley to evaluate options ranging from a possible sale, to private equity investment, or a purchase of its own. The list of potential buyers is wide-reaching. It includes handset makers Motorola (MOT, 18.64) and Nokia (NOK, 21.14), or possibly PC manufacturers looking to expand into the PDA phone segment, including Dell (DELL, 22.97) or Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, 38.67).

In early trading, however, shares are turning lower after JPMorgan cut its rating to Underweight on skepticism a takeover is actually pending and that a deal would be priced at a significant premium to where shares are currently trading.

The company's spokesperson said that the company does not comment on rumors and is focused on growing its business. PALM, which posted its first sales decline in more than three years in December, is currently trading at a trailing earnings multiple of 24.4x and 1.2 price to sales.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

09:17 am Research In Motion (RIMM)

Maker of the oh-so-popular Blackberry, Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM, 135.97), got the message out to investors Monday that it will restate its financial statements for fiscal 2004, 2005 and 2006 and the first quarter of 2007, following a review of stock options grants. RIMM expects to reduce the amount of previously reported GAAP earnings by an aggregate amount of about $250 mln.

While the company said its review did not find intentional misconduct on the part of any director, officer or employee responsible for the administration of the company's stock option grant program, it said it will implement changes to its board, audit committee, compensation committee and nominating committee.

It will also split its chairman and chief executive roles. Jim Balsillie, chairman and co-Chief Executive Officer, will step down from the role of chairman, and Chief Financial Officer, Dennis Kavelman, will become the company's Chief Operating Officer.

The company-led review of a stock option grants began in September. In December, the company said that for the fourth quarter it had expected earnings in a range of $0.92 to $0.99 per share on revenue between $900 mln and $940 mln. Analysts are anticipating a profit of $0.99 per share and revenue of $930.30 mln, according to Reuters Estimates.

In the past, we've noted the significant gains many tech sector stocks have seen since July, and warned investors should not try to chase heavy gainers. RIMM made a new high for the year in late January.

--Christine Marie Nielsen, Briefing.com

08:51 am New Century Financial (NEW)

When we look back on the mortgage market ten years from now, New Century Financial (NEW 14.65) is going to be held out as a glaring example of the risks involved with sub-prime mortgage lending. Whether the company itself still exists ten years from now is another question. Right now, it doesn't look good.

After Friday's close the troubled REIT issued a statement saying it will be unable to file its Annual Report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2006, by the appointed March 1 deadline. Its inability to do so was attributed to the realization that it would take "unreasonable effort and expense" to make that happen with the company in the process of restating three quarters worth of financial statements to correct errors in its accounting and financial reporting of loan repurchase losses.

More importantly, though, there was an added declaration that, unless waivers of the covenants in its financing arrangements are obtained from a number of its lenders, its auditor has indicated that there will be an explanatory paragraph that notes substantial doubt exists about the company's ability to continue as a going concern. That is a long way of saying New Century is at risk of going out of business.

The latter possibility is being discounted quickly in the stock price, which is indicated nearly 60% lower from Friday's close.

Investors might recall that New Century was the spark in early February that got the market's attention focused on the problems in the sub-prime mortgage market. Since then, it hasn't been alone, as several other companies have warned of problems associated with sub-prime loans.

Blow-ups like the one at New Century, though, have been few and far between. The concern for the market, though, is that there will soon be a domino effect that knocks over the prime lenders as well. The market is caught up with all things negative right now, but ultimately, we don't see that happening to an extent that would throw the economy into recession.

New Century might not be around to see the next decade, let alone next year, but the sub-prime mortgage market is here to stay with all of its attendant investment risks.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

08:50 am Asian Sell-Off Eradicates Hopes of Recovery

A broad-based sell-off in Asia eliminated hopes of a recovery from last week's severe market declines. Asian indices fell to the lowest levels in more than two months, extending a worldwide sell-off that has wiped $1.5 tln from the value of global shares, according to Bloomberg.

Over the last week, sentiment has gone from overly optimistic to overtly pessimistic on concerns over economic growth in the US. Investors have become risk averse, with all major indices in the US, Asia, and Europe suffering severe declines. All three US benchmarks have erased gains for the US and $837 bln in market value, according to Bloomberg.

For our part, we believe the fundamentals remain moderately bullish, although risks are increasing. Still, this does not mean we are pounding the table on stocks, as our tone has become increasingly cautious since earlier this year. We anticipate a mid-single digit gain in the S&P 500 index this year.

With regard to Asia, as we stated last week in response to the sell-off, with memories of the Asian Crisis still lingering in many investors' minds, there are some important facts to remember. The sell-off in Asia has not been triggered by any economic, financial, currency, or political crisis. These are important points for investors to consider when assessing portfolio risk and weightings.

Overnight, Japan led the region's declines with the Nikkei and the Topix plunging over 3% as investors reacted to a drop in US consumer confidence. The US is Japan's largest export partner. The yen has strengthened materially over the past week from roughly 122 yen to the dollar to currently Y115 and change. As a result, exporters have been leading the declines as a stronger yen against the dollar and euro reduces the value of overseas sales.

HSBC Holdings led the Hang Seng lower by 4% on concerns it would report weaker profits today due to defaults on high-risk mortgages in the US. China's banking stocks suffered after Premier Wen Jiabao said the country will take more steps to curb investment and slow economic growth. The Shanghai and Shenzhen composites declined 1.6% and 0.6%, respectively.

All indices open for trading, excluding Thailand, which was closed for a holiday, suffered declines. The worst hit in the region were the Kuala Lumpur Composite at -4.6%, Jakarta at -3.4%, Philippines SE at -4.5%, and the Taiwan Taiex at -3.7%. The commodity-heavy Australian and New Zealand indices declined over 2% and 1.5%, respectively.

The MSCI Index dropped another 2.8% to 138.74 in Tokyo after dropping 3% last week - its lowest level since January 12th. Asia's declines reverberated across trading rooms in Europe with the major indices down nearly 2%.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

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Technical Analysis: 90-90 Vision
By Paul Shread

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3663971

We've had an unusual — and potentially bullish — development in the market the last two days. After yesterday's 90% downside volume day on the NYSE — the second in a week — we had a 90% upside volume day today on both the Nasdaq and NYSE. Such extremes in close proximity suggest that investors who panicked yesterday had a change of heart today; such washouts can be bullish, as Paul Desmond of Lowry's Reports pointed out in an award-winning work a few years ago. To demonstrate, just take a look at the chart of the Nasdaq (first chart below) and see all the sellers stranded in yesterday's small candlestick body who had to buy back at higher prices today. A pretty reversal there, but we still wouldn't be surprised to see yesterday's lows revisited and retested after a bounce, and preferably on lower volume and better internals. 2370 and 2361 are support on the Nasdaq, and 2390-2400 is first resistance. The Dow (second chart) has support at 12,186, 12,150, 12,130 and 12,100, and resistance is 12,225, 12,300 and 12,353. The S&P (third chart) has support at 1389-1392 and 1382, and first resistance is 1398-1402. The reversal in treasuries (fourth chart) was a little more tentative today.

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Another 90% upside day:

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3667206

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The market took a breather Thursday as investors, looking a bit fatigued, lacked the data needed to support the best three-day percentage gain on the S&P 500 since April 2003. It also wasn't surprising to see the Nasdaq, fresh off its largest percentage gain (+2.0%) since last October, as becoming ripe for a pullback. The Dow finished to the upside, but its 0.22% gain was nothing to write home about and still left it shy of turning positive for the year.

Before the bulls could even find room to rationalize a rally fueled by a revised Fed policy statement that didn't indicate any imminent rate cut a day earlier, they were greeted with some negative news in a Tech sector whose earnings potential is already under the microscope. Last night, Motorola (MOT 17.52 -1.22) warned of a loss for this quarter and forecasted the company's first sales decline in four years. That news trumped a blowout quarter from Oracle (ORCL 18.51 +0.34) two days ago and questioned the sustainability of Technology's recent recovery.

The absence of leadership in a Financials sector that has been a significant driver behind gains on all three major averages in five of the prior six sessions acted as an even larger overhang on the market. Thrifts & Mortgage (-1.3%), already one of this year's biggest disappointments (-7.0%) amid overblown concerns about subprime mortgage woes spilling over into the broader economy, was the sector's weakest link today. As if a Fed official saying that some borrowers are clearly experiencing "significant financial and personal challenges" wasn't enough Countrywide Financial (CFC 36.36 -0.59) followed by saying its foreclosures on 2006 subprime mortgages may top 2000's 9.9%, becoming the worst year yet.

Also stalling follow-through momentum were soaring oil prices. Crude for May delivery surged 3.5% to $61.69/bbl, its biggest one-day gain in six weeks, amid growing concerns that gasoline supplies remain inadequate to meet upcoming summer driving demand. Fortunately for the bulls, the Energy sector tacking a 1.8% advance onto yesterday's strong 1.7% gain helped to offset some of the commodity's inflationary potential. Exxon Mobil (XOM 74.34 +1.11), the most heavily weighted constituent on the S&P 500, climbed 1.5% in response to oil's advance.

Fellow Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 63.85 +0.89), the blue-chip index's second best performer, gained 1.4% after being upgraded at Bear Stearns on valuation. P&G's gain, along with General Mills (GIS 58.32 +0.44) topping expectations and raising its full-year outlook, helped the Consumer Staples garner added attention for its defensive characteristics. BTK +0.37% DJ30 +13.62 DJTA -0.04% DJUA +0.11% DOT -0.16% NASDAQ -4.18 NQ100 -0.37% R2K +0.03% SOX -1.26% SP400 +0.23% SP500 -0.50 XOI +1.59% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1449/1578/1.89 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1633/1619/1.50 bln

4:05PM Palm beats on top and bottom line; issues in line Q4 EPS guidance, light rev guidance (PALM) 17.74 1.71 : Reports Q3 (Feb) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.12. Co issues Q4 guidance, sees EPS of $0.13-0.16 vs. $0.15 consensus; sees Q4 revs of $400-410 mln vs. $416.84 mln consensus. "We delivered solid results in the third fiscal quarter and continue to expand our global market presence," said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. "Treo smartphone sell-through and revenue reached record levels, and Palm products were available to smartphone customers through seven of the top 10 carriers in the world."

4:01PM M-Wave managers submit letter of intent to purchase existing business (MWAV) 3.22 -0.11 : Co announces its special committee of its board of directors has received a non binding letter of intent from Joseph Turek, its Chairman and COO, and Robert Duke, president of its Electro-Mechanical Group division, to purchase substantially all of the assets of the EMG division. Mr. Turek and Mr. Duke together currently own approx 20% of M-Wave's outstanding common stock. The special committee of the board of directors has elected to study the LOI and leave open the potential for additional offers prior to making a decision whether to accept or reject the offer. In furtherance of that objective, the special committee re-engaged the investment banking firm of B-Riley to advise the board regarding the fairness of the offer and any other offers that may be made for the EMG division.

3:59PM Market View: Mixed trade near recovery highs (TECHX) : The indices began the day on a roll as they were up the last three in a row and five out of six (+5% Nasdaq Comp, +4.5% Dow and +5.4% S&P 500 low to high). Early attempts to build on the advance generated no follow through interest but like most of the sessions over the last week or so, no selling pressure was evident leaving the indices confined modestly below yesterday/opening session highs. Energy paced the way on the upside (Coal +2.5%, Oil Service HOLDRs +1.5%, Energy SPDR +1.8%, Oil +1.5%, Natural Gas +1.3%) with Airline -2.7% Computer-Hardware -1.6%, Networking -1.1%, Semi HOLDRs -1% and Home Construction -1% topping the sector losers list.

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From Briefing.com: 6:39 pm Weekly Wrap

The stock market put in a surprisingly good performance this week considering that most of the fundamentals are trending less favorably.

There is a fair amount of optimism about upcoming first quarter earnings reports. That is giving the market some lift. Seasonal factors may also be helping, as April has been the strongest month for stocks over the past 50 years. There is also clearly some momentum from the recent rebound after the late February sell-off.

The best news this past week came on the earnings front. Alcoa posted earnings above expectations. General Electric merely came in at expectations. But Merck raised estimates for the full year and McDonald's did likewise for the first quarter. There are hopes that first quarter operating earnings for the S&P 500 in aggregate will come in a couple percentage points above Wall Street estimates of about a 4% gain.

The macro news was generally bearish. Most significantly, the minutes of the Fed policy committee meeting of March 21 threw cold water on expectations of an imminent rate cut. The policy statement released on March 21 was received extremely bullishly by the stock market. The statement removed the policy leaning towards tightening and replaced it with a much more balanced outlook. The stock market took that as a step towards imminent rate cuts.

The minutes released on Wednesday showed that to be an error. The minutes reflected a consensus of the committee that further rate hikes might be necessary and there was no indication that a rate cut was likely any time soon. This news slammed the S&P to a 10 points loss on Wednesday.

Fed funds futures rationally moved to eliminate rate cut expectations for either late this summer or fall. This shift in expectations about interest rates could have had a lasting impact on underlying sentiment. Surprisingly, however, the S&P rebounded the very next day with a 9 point gain.

The economic news this week was limited. New claims for unemployment jumped for the week ended April 7 to 342,000 from 323,000 the week before. This might reflect a softening in the labor market, but the weekly numbers can be very volatile. The March core PPI was weaker than expected at unchanged, but the total PPI surged 1.0%. The flat core was good news, but also may not reflect a trend. The core was up 0.4% in February, and is up at a 2.3% annual rate for the first quarter. This too may prove aberrant.

Oil closed the week little changed at $63.60 a barrel and the yield on the 10-year note was unchanged at 4.75%.

The fundamentals have worsened over the past month even while the stock market has rebounded. This worsening was reflected in the monthly Wall Street Journal survey of Wall Street economists. First quarter real GDP forecasts have dropped to 2%. Interest rate forecasts were raised to reflect the lower probability of Fed easing. Inflation forecasts inched higher. And home price forecasts were lowered. Yet, the stock market has held in well against these bearish trends. Now, the focus turns to the flood of earnings reports that start on Monday and whether they live up to heightened expectations.

 
 Index      Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD  
 DJIA         12560.20    12612.13  51.93     0.4 % 1.2 %  
 Nasdaq        2471.34     2491.94  20.60     0.8 % 3.2 %  
 S&P 500       1443.76     1452.85   9.09     0.6 % 2.4 %  
 Russell 2000   813.35      819.30   5.95     0.7 % 4.0 %

4:20 pm : The major averages closed modestly higher Friday as some upbeat corporate news eventually helped investors look past mixed economic data.

With the Fed recently increasing its attention on raw material prices as the chief influence on inflation, the market's early focus was on the March PPI report. Core PPI in March checking in unchanged was initially comforting; but the soft number, coupled with rising food and energy costs, did not exactly signal that inflation is back under control.

Another report showing erosion in consumer sentiment and that one-year inflation expectations are at the highest level in eight months also sidelined the bulls in early action.

Be that as it may, investors gradually embraced leadership in two of the S&P 500's most heavily-weighted sectors -- Financials and Health Care. The latter got a huge boost from Merck (MRK 50.20 +3.84), which opened up 6% at a three-year high after upside Q1 and FY07 EPS guidance prompted an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. By far today's best performing Dow component (+8.3%), Merck accounted for more than half of the Dow's 59-point advance.

Financials garnered some early interest following reports that SLM Corp. (SLM 46.76 +6.01) could be taken private in a deal worth $30 bln, including debt. ABN AMRO (ABN 48.28 +2.49) confirming receipt of a joint letter from three potential acquirers late in the day gave the sector an added lift.

It wasn't until news out of Cisco Systems (CSCO 26.65 +0.68) late in the session, though, that helped the Nasdaq finally break out of its intraday funk. After trading down as much as 1.2% in early trading, Cisco spiked more than 3.0% after its Chief Development Officer said the company is at the "high end" of sales forecasts and is in the "early phases" of an upgrade cycle.

The news gave the market a late-day lift, especially among tech companies reeling from a handful of warnings that have placed the sector's growth prospects under scrutiny of late. Technology bounced 1.1% from its intraday lows. DJ30 +59.17 NASDAQ +11.62 SP500 +5.05 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1119/1902/1.86 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1306/1940/1.32 bln

3:30 pm : The indices are holding onto the bulk of their gains and on pace to finish the day, and the week, in positive territory. The Dow is poised to close higher for the tenth time in 11 sessions and is now up more than 1% for the year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, thanks in large part to the recent rally in Cisco Systems (CSCO 26.91 +0.94), looks to extend its year-to-date leading advance to over 3%. DJ30 +52.77 NASDAQ +11.53 SP500 +4.96 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1251/1723/1.50 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1361/1858/1.08 bln

3:59PM Market View: Late week range break (TECHX) : The market entered the week on a winning streak and after extending into Tuesday (8 in a row for Dow, 6 for S&P 500) there was modest pullback into Thursday morning. The Dow held near its 50 ema and trendline off the March lows, the Nasdaq Comp held at a similar trendline while the S&P 500 retraced only 38% of the March 30-April 10 run (held at trendline on close basis). The steady climb off these lows left the S&P 500 roughly 8 points (0.5%) shy of the Feb/52-wk peak as of today's high (Dow 180 points --1.4%, Nasdaq Comp 40 points -- 1.6%). Short term posture above the early/mid-wk highs leaves the door open for additional upticks early next week (CPI will be watched closely Tuesday). Helping to underpin were Drug +2.3% (MRK +8.3%), Mining -1.7%, Gold +1.3%, Restaurant +1.2%, Networking +1.1% (late jump CSCO +2.7%), Internet HOLDRs +1%, Commodity Index +1%, REITs +1%, Casino +0.9%. Pressure was noted in Home Construction -1.3%, Railroad -1.1%, Retail -0.6% and Semi HOLDRs -0.5%.

8:01AM Broadcom says charges Qualcomm with unfair competition, fraud and breach of contract (BRCM) 32.69 : Co announces that it has commenced new litigation against Qualcomm (QCOM) asserting that QCOM's conduct before prominent industry standards organizations violates California law. BRCM asserts that QCOM's misconduct before standards setting bodies includes improperly concealing its patents, reneging on licensing obligations, and exerting dominance through hidden affiliations.

09:59 am General Electric (GE)

The first quarter earnings report from General Electric (GE 35.52, +0.34) provided investors with more of the same, which is to say it was a solid report that reinforced the company's long-term investment appeal.

Earnings from continuing operations rose 8.0% to $4.5 billion while earnings per share jumped 10% to $0.44. The latter was in line with the consensus estimate and smack dab in the middle of the company's guidance range of $0.43 to $0.45. Revenues for the period rose 6.0% to $40.2 billion and organic revenues increased 8.0%. The first quarter marked the ninth consecutive quarter that organic revenues have grown at a rate of 2-3 times global GDP.

GE's Infrastructure business continued to be its earnings driver as it achieved 28% profit growth on an 18% increase in revenue. Commercial Finance followed close behind with gains of 21% and 15%, respectively.

Profit growth for GE Money, however, was just 2.0% as the challenges presented by the U.S. mortgage business acted as a restraining influence. GE said it expects the business to rebound during the remainder of the year.

The Healthcare and NBC Universal segments also managed only single-digit percentage profit growth with each encountering special issues. In the case of Healthcare, it got hurt by a temporary regulatory suspension on shipments of surgical supplies, whereas NBC Universal was dealing with the comparison to last year when it benefited from the 2006 Olympic broadcasts.

GE's Industrial business experienced a 20% decline in profit as its plastics business, which GE is shopping to prospective buyers, remained a drag. The understanding that the plastics business is up for sale id a big reason why the market hasn't been too bothered by the weakness in the Industrial segment.

GE expects to deliver second quarter earnings from continuing operations of $0.52-0.54 per share (consensus $0.53) and reaffirmed its FY07 outlook for EPS from continuing operations to increase 10-12% to $2.18-2.23 (consensus $2.22).

That is steady, and respectable, growth for a company the size of GE. With a P/E multiple of 16.0x estimated earnings that is basically in line with the market multiple, GE is attractively priced in our estimation for the investment-minded individual given its dependable nature and attractive dividend yield of 3.20%.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

09:33 am Lam Research (LRCX)

Lam Research (LRCX 50.98) beat analysts' expectations for its fiscal third quarter, driven by demand for equipment to make DRAM memory and flash chips used in computers and mobile electronics. Its shares, however, traded slightly lower in pre-market activity, amid concerns about a potential decline in memory spending.

For the third quarter, Lam posted a profit of $164.7 million, or $1.15 per share, on revenue of $650.3 million. That compares with earnings of $86.3 million, or $0.65 per share, on revenue of $437 million a year earlier, and second quarter earnings of $167.3 million, or $1.15 per share, on revenue of $633.4 million. Overall, the results topped Wall Street's expectations. Analysts on average were expecting the company to post a more modest profit of $1.06 per share and $644.7 million in revenue.

Gross profit of $326.2 million for the quarter was in line with expectations at 50.2% of revenue, compared to gross margin of 51% in the previous quarter.

Looking to the current fourth quarter, Lam expects to earn between $1.13 and $1.17 per share on revenue of $655 to $675 million. That is above analysts' forecast for earnings per share of $1.09 and revenue of $650 million. However, the company also projected sequential shipment growth of 10% to 15%, down from its previous guidance of 25% to 30%, exacerbating concerns about the magnitude of decline in memory spending.

--Richard Jahnke, Briefing.com

08:50 am Oracle (ORCL)

Oracle Corp. (ORCL, 18.70) late Thursday indicated there are more share repurchases in its future. The software giant said its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $4 billion of common stock under its share repurchase plan.

The increase means the company has the authorization to repurchase approximately $4.7 billion of common stock. The repurchase plan is designed to return cash to stockholders and offset the effects of share issuances under the company's stock option and employee stock purchase plans.

In the latest quarter, Oracle's sales of applications and databases were strong, and margins were significantly higher than expected. The company beat on consensus for both earnings per share and revenue. The company has implemented a very successful acquisition strategy, and has long been a favorite stock of Briefing.com.
The company said the stock repurchase authorization does not have an expiration date and the pace of repurchase activity will depend on factors such as working capital needs, cash requirements for acquisitions, and repayment of debt, including the $1.7 billion in commercial paper issued to pay for its acquisition of Hyperion.

Oracle's board of directors first approved a share repurchase plan in 1992, and over the years has expanded the program several times. From the inception of the program, the company has returned approximately $25.8 billion to stockholders, including approximately $3.46 billion so far this fiscal year.

--Christine Marie Nielsen, Briefing.com

08:03 am Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker, posted a slightly larger than expected 15% drop in first quarter profits to 1.6 trillion won (US$1.72 billion) on falling memory prices and low utilization levels contracting margins. This was Samsung's lowest interim profit since the first quarter of 2005. Given the challenging pricing environment for memory, market participants were expecting weak results, but we hoped Samsung's second quarter predictions would signal a bottom for the industry.

Samsung forecast another 5-10% drop in DRAM (dynamic random access memory) prices sequentially in the second quarter. As anticipated, however, the company, which is notoriously aggressive in its guidance, predicted Q2 would be the bottom for DRAM profitability and forecast earnings to improve in the second quarter as seasonal demand for consumer electronic products picks up. Samsung cited demand stemming from Windows Vista during the holiday season. It predicted NAND prices should rise 20-25% in the April-June quarter after falling 40% in the first quarter.

Overshadowed by its memory products, Samsung reported a recovery in its mobile phone business driven by a focus on medium to lower-end models. It sold 34.8 million mobile devices in the quarter and margins widened to 13% from 7% in the fourth quarter despite lower ASPs. The company is the third largest producer behind Nokia (NOK) and Motorola (MOT).

Samsung is also the world's largest maker of LCD panels, which were also hurt this quarter by lower seasonal demand and weaker shipment of monitor screens. Samsung, LG Philips, and AU Optronics are all dealing with a glut of inventories that have caused LCD prices to drop steadily from last year.

In November, we warned of growing capacity in both DRAM and NAND flash as the market headed into its seasonally weakest period, raising red flags for pricing. As expected, ramping capacity resulted in an oversupply, causing prices to plummet as demand for Vista was sluggish. Our position on the memory producers remains, and we continue to suggest investors stay on the sidelines until mid 2007 until the supply/demand picture crystallizes. The risk is that the upturn takes longer than expected.

For Samsung's competitor, Micron (MU), we think current price levels offer an attractive buying opportunity. Investors should tread lightly, however, as the downside risk is 10% lower, in our estimation. But we would argue that shares are close to bottoming as the market looks toward a second half recovery.

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

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From Briefing.com: 5:10 pm Weekly Wrap

Earnings propelled the stock market higher this week. The Dow posted the largest gain of the indices on the back of a number of good reports from key components. The market showed good resilience and momentum all week.

There was a heavy flood of earnings reports this week. About 25% of the S&P 500 companies have now reported. Individual stocks reacted favorably to better than expected reports, and companies with earnings at forecast were not punished. This reflects a good underlying tone for the market.

In reality, although earnings are beating Wall Street forecasts, this quarter is about in line with normal trends. That is, approximately 67% of companies are beating expectations. That is about the level of most quarters, but down from the near 70% levels of recent years when earnings growth was double digit.

The overall earnings beat is also tracking historical trends. Expectations as the quarter started were for first quarter operating earnings for the S&P in aggregate to be up about 3.5%. With one quarter having reported, that is now at about 5% (including forecasts for the ones not yet reported). Normally, the ultimate gain will exceed expectations by about 3%, sometimes more. The number of companies beating estimates and the total gain for earnings above expectations are therefore nothing out of the norm. And, the overall earnings growth this quarter will be an average 6% to 7%.

The reaction to the earnings says as much about market conditions as the actual earnings reports. The market has reacted very favorably to what could be considered a very average earnings season so far.

Good earnings this week included reports from: Citigroup, Eli Lilly, Wachovia, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, United Technologies, eBay, Harley-Davidson, Merrill Lynch, Caterpillar, American Express, Honeywell, and Pfizer, among others. IBM and Intel had only decent reports, but the stocks reacted relatively well. Yahoo was a notable disappointment.

The economic reports this week were also supportive to the stock market. March retail sales rose a larger than expected 0.7% with sales excluding the volatile auto component up 0.8%. March housing starts were up 0.8% to a 1.518 million seasonal rate and have now stabilized for five months. Housing permits were, coincidentally, also up 0.8%. March industrial production was down 0.2%, but that was due to a large aberrant drop in utility output. The core manufacturing component was up 0.7%. The only slightly bearish economic release was a relatively high level of 339,000 in new claims for unemployment for the week ended April 14. That was down from 343,000 the week before but the trend before that was in the 310,000 to 325,000 range.

The best release of the week, however, was the March CPI data. The core rate was up just 0.1%. That was down from 0.2% in February and 0.3% in January. Total CPI was up 0.6%, but the low core rate helped ease inflation fears considerably.

Oil ended the week little changed at $63.38 a barrel, and the yield on the 10-year note dipped to 4.67% on the low inflation number.

The market enters another heavy earnings week with good momentum.

 
 Index     Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD  
 DJIA        12612.13    12961.98  349.85    2.8 % 4.0 %  
 Nasdaq       2491.94     2526.39   34.45    1.4 % 4.6 %  
 S&P 500      1452.85     1484.35   31.50    2.2 % 4.7 %  
 Russell 2000  819.30      828.40    9.10    1.1 % 5.2 %

3:51PM Market View: Potential short term Dow targets (TECHX) : A quick review of the Dow as it trades in the final hour of the week shows that the solid performance off of the Mid-March low has seen the upside momentum accelerate. From low to high the index has advanced as much as 355 points off of Monday's low with today's advance bringing its win streak to seven which also leaves it up 15 out of the last 16 days. Since it bottomed in March it is up 22 out of 26 days for a gain of 1027 points from low to high or 8.6% (click for Dow chart). This week's extension to new highs necessitates a different method to identify areas of potential resistance where profit taking or a correction could begin. Based on the three separate advances off the March low and the Feb-March decline as well as the continued extended technical posture suggests watching for signs of short term consolidation/reversal near Fib targets at 12969, 12988/12996 and 13028 which obviously also brackets the 13000 psych barrier. At this point any pullback would be considered merely a corrective pause (possible wave 4 off the March low) with adjustments made for the next objective based the size/extent of the move.

08:10 am Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Management at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 14.28) admitted the first quarter was a terrible quarter. That admission was unnecessary since AMD's terrible performance was plain for everyone to see.

The company, which is in an epic market share fight with Intel (INTC 21.81), a suggested holding in our Active Portfolio, reported an operating loss of $504 million versus an operating profit of $259 million last year. The company's net loss summed to $611 million or $1.11 per share. Revenues fell 7% to $1.233 billion from the prior year period and were down a whopping 30% on a sequential basis.

Most strikingly, AMD's gross margins plummeted to 31% from 40% in the fourth quarter, and from 56% in the first quarter of 2006. Intel's first quarter gross margin rate was 50.1%. AMD attributed the drop to lower unit shipments, lower average selling prices, and the inclusion of ATI, which generally has lower-margin products, for the entire quarter.

AMD pinned its terrible performance on four factors that combined to form what it said was a "perfect storm" during the quarter. Those factors were the following: (1) failure to manage its growth successfully (2) pricing pressure (3) a competitive product environment in both CPUs and GPUs and (4) weakening demand in the consumer electronics business.

On a brighter note, AMD said it expects revenue in the seasonally down second quarter to be flat to slightly up. Intel's revenue guidance for the second quarter computed to a projected 4.0% sequential decline at the midpoint of its $8.2 to $8.8 billion range. New products in the graphics business, and some progress in the channel at the end of the first quarter that continued into the second, are the factors behind AMD's relatively upbeat revenue forecast.

The latter, however, isn't why AMD is indicated to open higher today. Frankly, we're not sure if anyone is even buying the revenue guidance given what the market knows about Intel's competitive influence these days and considering AMD ended up revising its first quarter revenue guidance well below its original guidance.

The catalyst for the stock today is management's acknowledgment that it is open to a private equity deal if it makes sense. It is little more than that, frankly, since there was little reason in AMD's operating results to be pounding the table on the stock this morning.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : With a market increasingly sensitive to weak economic data, now that earnings season is all but over, investors found a slew of reasons Thursday to suggest stocks are overbought at current levels.

Yesterday, the S&P 500 finished within 1% of its March 2000 record and the Dow closed at an all-time high for the 21st time this year. Today, the S&P 500 shaved 1.4% off its 6.6% year-to-date advance. The Dow posted its first triple-digit decline since the day this seven-week rally got underway (March 13). All three major averages closed near session lows, suggesting that there is potential for some carry-over weakness tomorrow morning.

Setting the bearish tone for trading today was a plethora of disappointing same-store sales figures. April comps were widely anticipated to be weak, given poor weather, rising gas prices, and an earlier Easter; but no one anticipated it would be the worst April on record. According to the UBS-International Council of Shopping Centers, overall April sales fell 2.3%, the biggest drop since the industry tracker began tracking the data.

Just a day removed from the Fed reiterating its continued concerns about inflation risks, a larger than expected 1.3% rise in import prices last month gave sellers another excuse to question current valuations.

Throw in a wider than expected trade deficit, and a lack of the very deal-making news that has provided a substantial floor of support for stocks of late, and today's pullback wasn't much of a surprise. From our vantage point, we have let readers know that we felt the market had gotten ahead of itself given deteriorating fundamentals.

All 10 economic sectors not only closed lower, but all of them were down at least 1.0% each. Energy (-2.0%) turned in the day's worst performance despite a modest rebound in crude oil prices. It is worth noting, though, that Energy has also been the best performing S&P sector (+15.3%) since stocks bottomed in mid March.

Health Care (-1.9%) was a close second as two of the sector's most heavily-weighted drug names tumbled following an unfavorable FDA ruling. The absence of leadership from Financials was another thorn in the bulls' side Thursday; 85 of its 90 components lost ground. BTK -2.1% DJ30 -147.74 DJTA -1.8% DJUA -1.4% DOT -1.3% NASDAQ -42.60 NQ100 -1.6% R2K -1.9% SOX -2.1% SP400 -1.4% SP500 -21.11 XOI -1.9% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2395/671/2.26 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2558/733/1.52 bln

5:58PM Maxim Integrated announces receipt of additional notice from Nasdaq regarding stock listing (MXIM) 31.66 -0.82 : Co announced that due to its failure to timely file a Form 10-Q with the SEC for its fiscal quarter ended March 24, 2007 as required by Nasdaq Marketplace, it received an Additional Staff Determination letter from Nasdaq on May 7, 2007 stating that this filing delinquency will serve as an additional basis for the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to consider in the context of the proceedings before the Panel.

4:29PM Transmeta reports Q1 results (TMTA) 0.45 -0.00 : Reports Q1 (Mar) loss of $0.09 per share, $0.03 worse than the Reuters Estimates consensus of ($0.06); revenues fell 12.5% year/year to $2.1 mln vs the $2.2 mln consensus. "The restructuring is proceeding according to plan and, in some cases, is ahead of schedule. We expect to further reduce our headcount by 15 to 20 percent during the second quarter, mainly affecting general and administrative positions. As a result of the restructuring, we are no longer pursuing engineering services as a separate line of business and have also exited the business of selling microprocessor products."

4:19PM Action Semi announces share repurchase program to purchase up to 8 mln ADSs representing 48 mln common shares (ACTS) 6.60 -0.36 :

3:59PM Market View: Indices finally take a breather (TECHX) : The market opened lower for the third session in a row but unlike the previous two days the bulls lacked the strength to lift the indices beyond initial retracements of the opening dip with a steady slide noted into the afternoon. After a minimal bounce, new lows were posted in late trade leaving the indices with their largest declines since the first part of March. Retail numbers were cited but given that all of the indices finally reached double digit gains off March lows yesterday (Russell 2000 was the laggard) the market was looking for a reason to take a breather. Losses were seen virtually across the board with Biotech HOLDRS -3.3%, Home Construction -2.6%, Gold Silver -2.6%, Trucking -2.6%, Steel -2.5%, Coal -2.4%, Oil Service HOLDRs -2.1%, Drug -2.1%, Networking -2%, Oil -1.9% and Railroad -1.9% pacing the way.

7:30AM Verichip announces promotion of William Caragol to President and Chief Financial Officer (CHIP) 5.00 : Co announces that William Caragol has been promoted to President of the co. Caragol will also maintain his current role as CFO of CHIP.

08:38 am April Same-Store Sales Review

When the retailers reported their same-store sales results for March, we characterized them as a "big tease" knowing that the April results were likely to be as weak as the March results were strong. Today, the retailers are reporting their April results, and let's just say that our sense of matters has come to fruition.

The retail sector's struggle in April was a by-product of poor weather, the impact of rising gas prices, and the post-Easter/Spring Break spending lull.

There are a lot of minus signs in today's reports, and notably, there are a number of retailers that not only fell short of the Briefing.com consensus estimate, but fell short by a significant margin.

In a certain respect, the big misses aren't entirely surprising knowing that retailers like Target (TGT) and Talbots (TLB) had already said the April sales period was much weaker than they expected.

These reports in aggregate, though, go to show that many stocks had gotten ahead of themselves in the market's recent run-up. To be sure, they did nothing to prompt us to change the Underweight rating we currently have on the Consumer Discretionary sector.

A few names that jump out for their disappointing results include Wal-Mart (WMT), Ann Taylor (ANN), Gap (GPS), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Chico's FAS (CHS) and Pacific Sunwear (PSUN).

The latter company is a suggested holding in our Active Portfolio. Its stock has done quite well since we added it last October (+24%), but it seems certain that gain will be pared today. Pacific Sunwear experienced a 16.5% decline in same-store sales versus a consensus estimate that called for a drop of 6.6%. The company stated the obvious in saying April was much weaker than it anticipated. The company then warned it isn't going to live up to the market's first quarter earnings expectations.

From an economic standpoint, the report from Wal-Mart (WMT) is the most significant. Led by a 4.6% decline at the core Wal-Mart Stores division, total same-store sales, which includes Sam's Club, dropped 3.5%. Analysts were expecting only a 1.2% decline.

Wal-Mart noted that grocery continued to be stronger than general merchandise at Wal-Mart Stores, which suggests its customers are shopping for what they have to have versus what they would like. Strikingly, Wal-Mart called attention to a national survey that made note of the increasing concern about rising gas prices.

Per usual, there were some bright spots. Costco (COST) stands out in that regard, as it delivered a 7.0% same-store sales increase versus expectations for a 6.3% gain. That performance, in the face of Wal-Mart's report, will generate talk that Costco is taking share away from Wal-Mart.

Sharper Image (SHRP), another suggested holding in our Active Portfolio, also stands out for a positive report - positive in a relative sense that is. Its same-store sales declined 11.0%, but the Briefing.com consensus estimate was pegged at a decline of 22.8%.

--Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com

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Amateur Investors Weekend Stock Market Analysis (6/9/07)

http://www.amateur-investor.net/Weekend_Market_Analysis_June_9_07.htm

For the first time in several weeks the market came under some decent selling pressure. One reason for the increase in selling pressure this week may have been tied to the Yields on the 10 Year Treasury Note. Notice over the past few years each time the Yields on the 10 Year Note have spiked higher and risen 0.5% or more over a period of several weeks (points A to B) this has been followed by a pullback or consolidation period in the Dow for 3 weeks or more (points C to D). Currently the Yield on the 10 Year Note has undergone another substantial move higher and gained over 0.6% March (points D to E) and has risen back above the 5% level (denoted by solid black line). Keep in mind the last time the Yield on the 10 Year Note rose above 5% was in the Spring of 2006 which was followed by a 1000 point drop in the Dow (points F to G). Thus it will be interesting to see if we will now see another multi week pullback develop in the coming weeks.



As far as the major averages the Dow has now below its 20 Day EMA (blue line) for the first time in several weeks but so far has held support above its 50 Day EMA (green line) near 13200. Over the next few weeks the 13200 level will be a key support level for the Dow. If the Dow were to drop below its 50 Day EMA then that could lead to a more substantial correction with a drop back to the 12800 to 12500 range.



The Nasdaq dropped back below its 20 Day EMA (blue line) this week but was able to hold support near its 50 Day EMA (green line) on Friday. Thus it will be important for the Nasdaq to hold support near its 50 Day EMA the next few weeks. If the Nasdaq were to drop below its 50 Day EMA then that could lead to a more substantial correction with a possible drop back to its 200 Day EMA (purple line) near 2430.



As far as the S&P 500 it has dropped below its 20 Day EMA (blue line) for the first time in several weeks but did hold support near its 50 Day EMA (green line) on Friday. Over the next few weeks it will be important for the S&P 500 to hold support near Friday's low which was at 1487. If the S&P 500 were to take out the 1487 level then that would likely lead to a more substantial correction with a potential drop back to the 1460 to 1420 range.



Finally if for those that like to trade the major ETF's such as the SPY's for example one of the Strong Buy Signals we look for when the market has become overbought in the short term is for both the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and 8 Day Stochastic to close below a reading of 10. The most recent Signal (point S) occurred on Thursday which gave us a Buy Signal Friday. Meanwhile a couple of other Buy Signals (points S) were generated back in late February and early March with the entry days denoted by points E.



Meanwhile going back even further here were some more Buy Signals (points S) when both the RSI and 8 Day Stochastic closed below 10 with the entry days denoted by points E. In all of these cases the SPY's gained at least $1 from their entry prices and in some cases rose $2 or $3 over a very short period of time.

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FSII MT/LT bot 2000 shares@4.26 - Volume is drying up and therefore the selling may be almost done.





http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=FSII

RtS

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FLEX Charts - Selling near book value so I thought I would run some charts:





http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=flex

http://www.smartmoney.com/pricecheck/index.cfm?story=worksheet&symbol=flex&nav=pc_snaps

RtS

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From Briefing.com: 4:25PM Intel reports in line EPS, beats on revs, gross margins below expectations; issues in line Q3 rev guidance, lowers FY07 capital spending expectations (INTC) 26.32 +0.37 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.19 per share, excluding 0.03 tax benefit, in line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.19; revenues rose 8.4% year/year to $8.68 bln vs the $8.55 bln consensus. INTC reports Q2 gross margins of 46.9% 48.4% Street expectations. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $9.0-9.6 bln vs. $9.34 bln consensus. Sees Q3 gross margin of 52% plus or minus a couple of points, vs 51.6% street expectations. INTC reaffirms FY07 gross margins of 51% plus or minus a few points, vs 51.2% Street expectations. Capital spending: $4.9 bln plus or minus $200 mln, lower than the previous expectation of $5.5 bln plus or minus $200 mln, primarily due to manufacturing efficiencies... Regarding Q2 gross margins of 46.9%, lower than the midpoint of the previous expectation. Microprocessor margins were as expected with higher unit shipments offset by lower average selling prices (ASPs). Demand for NOR flash products was lower than expected, resulting in impacts that lowered Intel's gross margin by one point.

4:20 pm : For a second straight day, stocks finished mixed. A batch of better than expected earnings, more proof the market remains awash in liquidity, and the first drop in producer prices since January initially armed the bulls with enough momentum to power the Dow to its fifth straight victory and, more notably, above 14,000 for the first time ever.

However, some nervousness heading into another deluge of corporate earnings, a closely-watched update on inflation (e.g. CPI), and the start of a two-day testimony before Congress from Fed Chairman Bernanke left some questioning whether the market's sizable gains of late are sustainable.

The Dow closed in record territory again; but its best performer was not among the two components in focus after topping Wall Street's expectations. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 62.75 -1.05) beat forecasts and backed its full-year profit outlook but lowered its 2007 sales growth guidance. Coca-Cola (KO 53.06 -0.79) also checked in better than expected but continued weakness in North American sales left investors questioning the 52-week high shares hit a day earlier.

The Dow's salvation was American Express (AXP 64.80 +2.92), which accounted for all of the Dow's 20-point gain. The stock soared 4.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to Buy and raised its price target to $77 from $66.

A technical breakout in General Electric (GE 40.77 +0.65), the second most heavily-weighted name on the S&P 500, was another bright spot and was the biggest reason behind Industrials pacing the way among just four sectors finishing higher. As evidenced by the Nasdaq turning in the best performance among the major averages, Novellus Systems (NVLS 33.03 +3.34) essentially calling the bottom in bookings helped validate optimism throughout Technology and support our recent upgrade on the sector to Overweight.

KLA-Tencor (KLAC 61.78 +5.08) later in the session offering some upbeat commentary out of the SEMICON West conference also helped pave the way for Intel (INTC 26.32 +0.37), a suggested holding in the Briefing.com Active Portfolio, ahead of its report tonight. A 3.1% rally in Yahoo! (YHOO 27.52 +0.82) ahead of its results after the close and a 2.5% surge in Microsoft (MSFT 30.77 +0.74), which also reports this week, provided additional sector support.

Materials (+0.6%) was the day's third best performing sector. Basell agreeing to buy Lyondell Chemical (LYO 47.05 +6.93) for $12.1 bln in cash and a $2 bln buyback from Rohm & Haas (ROH 61.27 +5.54) earmarked chemical stocks among the session's biggest winners. After being up as much as 1.6% at $75.35/bbl level intraday, crude for August delivery heading into expiration and closing relatively flat was also noteworthy.

Unfortunately, subsequent deterioration in the Energy (-0.9%) sector removed much of the leadership that had helped the S&P 500 recently hit historic highs and contend with the lack of participation from the more heavily weighted Financial sector.

The latter was in focus after Merrill Lynch (MER 86.86 -0.53) posted a 31% jump in Q2 profits; but its CFO saying the market for subprime debt has yet to stabilize prompted a reversal in MER shares and, had it not been for the rally in AXP, the sector would have slipped further into negative territory for the year.

Separately, today's headline PPI unexpectedly falling for the first time in five months due to a drop in food and energy prices was also welcome news for investors. When it was all said and done, though, investors opted to wait for Wednesday's more influential CPI report to get a better inflation read for Fed policy direction. BTK +0.1% DJ30 +20.57 DJTA +0.4% DJUA -0.1% DOT +0.4% NASDAQ +14.96 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.2% SOX +3.0% SP400 +0.2% SP500 -0.15 XOI -1.0% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1497/1556/2.14 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1885/1366/1.43 bln

4:08PM Research In Motion announces the BlackBerry 8820 Smartphone (RIMM) 230.07 +3.53 :

4:06PM Maxim Integrated says Nasdaq's Board of Directors grants stay regarding Maxim common stock (MXIM) 35.00 +0.14 :

3:59PM Market View: Semi/tech continues to outperform (TECHX) : Impressive performance if you were in the right segment of the market. The Nasdaq 100/Comp posted solid gains as they sprinted to new 6 1/2 year highs amid aggressive gains in Semi (SOX +3.1%). Underpinning this group was an encouraging outlook from NVLS (+11.2%) prior to the open and midday commentary from KLAC (+8.9%) at the SEMICON West conference. Tech strength was also seen in Disk Drive +1.5%, Software +0.8% and Computer-Hardware +0.6%. A look at the rest of the indices reveals a different picture. The Dow edged just 32 points above yesterday's high at its peak and it pulled back below in late trade. The S&P 500 failed to take out yesterday's high and ended near unchanged while the small-cap Russell 2000 and the S&P Mid-Cap 400 are still struggling to breakout out above their June highs (Nasdaq 100 has run nearly 5% above its June peak). Groups on the defensive included: Coal -2.4%, Home Construction -1.6%, Oil -1%, Retail HOLDRs -0.9% and Oil Service -0.8%.

2:30PM Amkor and IMEC sign collaboration agreement for 3D wafer-level packaging (AMKR) 15.48 +0.15 : The co and and IMEC, announce that they have entered into a 2-year collaboration agreement to develop cost-effective, 3D integration technology based on wafer-level processing techniques.

2:28PM Semi HOLDRs -SMH- extends near resistance zone (TECHX) 41.32 +1.02 : Aggressive extension above the early high has brought Fib extension targets in the 41.41/41.50 area into play (session high 41.36). KLAC +8.3%, LRCX +10.1%, INTC +2%, AMAT +6.4%, TER +2.6%, XLNS +3.1%.

8:45AM Marvell names Michael Rashkin new Chief Financial Officer (MRVL) 18.63 : Co announces it has named Michael Rashkin CFO effective immediately.

8:30AM O2Micro receives patent for DC/DC controller architecture (OIIM) 13.00 : Co announces it was issued 15 claims under United States patent number 7,203,048 for its Direct Current- to-Direct Current Controller with In-rush Current Protection invention.

8:05AM Chipmos Technology reports June 2007 revs of $57.7 mln, a decrease of 4% from May 2007; Q2 revs were $177.5 mln vs. $179.37 mln consensus (IMOS) 7.36 :

8:03AM Nu Horizons Elec and Micron announce North American distribution agreement (NUHC) 10.86 : Co and Micron Technology (MU) announce a distribution agreement for MU's full line of products, including D.R.A.M, memory modules, Mobile D.R.A.M, P.S.R.A.M, N.A.N.D Flash, Multichip Packages and C.M.O.S Image Sensors. The agreement gives NUHC non-exclusive distribution rights throughout the US, Canada and Mexico, in addition to global fulfillment for North American designs being manufactured in other parts of the world.

Xilinx (XLNX) announces that the Xilinx Spartan-3E F.P.G.A and MicroBlaze soft processor has been selected for Samsung Electronics' latest digital video surveillance system...

2:32AM Photon Dynamics updates Q3 guidance and announces intention to restate historical financial statements in light of revised customs expense estimates (PHTN) 11.22 : Co updates its guidance for the quarter ended June 30, 2007. Based on preliminary results, the co estimates Q3 revenue to be approx $15.0 mln (Reuters Est. calls for revenue of $19.0 mln and loss per share between $0.45 to $0.55 (Reuters Est. calls for loss of $0.23). The co's previously issued guidance for the quarter was for revenue to be between $15 mln and $20 mln, with loss per share between $0.30 to $0.40. The revised lower guidance for loss per share is principally due to a customer cancellation of a purchase order for multiple Generation 5.5 systems which had been manufactured, resulting in a write-down of approximately $2 mln of excess inventory and the Q3 charge for customs duty and other related expense of approx $500,000. As a result of conducting an internal review of its customs duty valuation practice, the co has concluded that it had under recorded customs duty expense related to the import of warranty parts into the foreign countries in which it operates, and that it will therefore restate its historical financial statements to correct the previously understated expenses related to customs duties, interest, penalties and other related costs. Co currently estimates that the aggregate of such duties and other related expenses including the amount charged in the quarter ended June 30, 2007 will be approx $7 mln to $8 mln.

08:17 am Novellus Systems (NVLS)

After issuing a profit warning back on June 28th on weak industry fundamentals, expectations were running low for Novellus (NVLS, 30.00). The chip equipment maker's interim report kicks off a week's worth of results from the semiconductor industry, including the largest chip maker on the planet, Intel (INTC. 25.85). We recently raised the Technology sector to Overweight based partly on the industry's cyclical recovery.

NVLS, which counts Intel as one of its largest customers, reported inline revenues ($416.3 million), earnings ($0.45), and gross margins. However, bookings ($332.2 million) came in even lower than the revised guidance, declining 19% sequentially.

With the second quarter fully priced into shares, the market was looking for insight into the second half of the year. Order guidance for the September quarter of flat to +/-5% came in well ahead of expectations of a 15% decline or worse.

The guidance provided a lift to sentiment, sending shares up in the after-market. However, there still remains considerable risk to expectations, including next month's memory orders. We think the risk/reward scenario continues to tip out of NVLS's favor and instead prefer Applied Materials (AMAT, 20.60) and Lam Research (LRCX, 52.88).

--Kimberly DuBord, Briefing.com

09:29 am STEC Inc: CIBC Wrld Mkts upgrades Sector Perform to Sector Outperform. Target $9. CIBC upgrades STEC to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $9 tgt based on improving prospects for STEC's Zeus line of high ASP ($6K-$10K), high margin (above 50%), game-changing solid state drives, as well as stabilizing trends in the DRAM business.

09:26 am SanDisk: Oppenheimer reiterates Buy. Target $53 to $60. Oppenheimer raises their tgt on SNDK to $60 from $53 saying while the demand outlook remains soft, they believe, multiple catalysts, from slower supply growth, improving retail market share, gross margin upside, license upside position SNDK favorably for 2H07.

I guess we are right where I thought we were? Time will tell.

RtS

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On the CPC. The chart below shows that you have to follow the moving averages rather than one day events before a lasting bottom is always put in place. It can seem to be a one day event but that one day is generally added on top of a great deal of previous put buying as well.

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Bot 1000 shares of MFLX@14.62

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : After tumbling 2.4% on average last Friday, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq bounced back in impressive fashion Monday as the belief that stocks are oversold on a short-term basis sparked a wave of bargain-hunting interest.

The Dow turned in its biggest point gain since October 2002, but the S&P 500 was the best performing major average as all 10 sectors finished noticeably higher. Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by a mere 17-to-15 margin, however, while declining issues only outpaced advancing issues on the Nasdaq by a small margin.

With the very influential Financial sector down 12.7% year to date heading into today's action, 12.4% of which occurred over the prior three weeks, some encouraging developments in the space fueled a short-covering rally throughout the group. The S&P 500's most heavily weighted sector more than recouped all of the 3.9% it lost on Friday by soaring to the tune of 4.7%.

An analyst upgrade on Merrill Lynch (MER 74.50 +4.45) at UBS, which said the fallout from the mortgage and credit businesses is mostly discounted in MER's valuation, was the driving catalyst. Morgan Stanley saying insurance stocks are down unjustifiably and Wells Fargo (WFC 34.72 +1.91) approving a 50 mln share buyback intraday also helped restore confidence throughout the battered sector.

A day after recording its worst one-day decline (-3.2%) since October 2002, the KBW Bank Index (+5.4%) turned in its best performance in nearly five years. Regional Banks (+5.8%) and Diversified Banks (+5.8%) ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in terms of today's best performers.

Thrifts & Mortgage (+7.7%), one of this year's 10 worst performing S&P industry groups (-15.5%), was today's biggest winner. Talk that regulatory restrictions may be lifted lit a fire under the likes of Fannie Mae (FNM 62.41 +5.78) and Freddie Mac (FRE 59.99 +4.29).

Bear Stearns (BSC 112.95 +4.60) spiking into positive territory about an hour before the close, following upbeat analyst commentary, helped exacerbate the rebound in brokerage stocks. An S&P analyst said the market overreacted to Bear Stearns' outlook, that BSC's liquidity remains "solid", and that liquidity at the Big 5 brokers remains sound.

Crude oil prices closing near session lows and plunging 4.5% to $72.06/bbl, coupled with the Energy sector's ability to completely shrug off oil's downturn and analyst downgrades on several sector components, provided additional relief.

As a reminder, all eyes tomorrow will be on the FOMC meeting, which will conclude at 14:15 ET. The Fed is widely expected to leave the fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25% again, but what isn't a foregone conclusion is what the accompanying policy directive will imply about future rate decisions.

As reflected in today's relief rally, many on Wall Street are apparently hoping the accompanying directive reflects concern about credit conditions and provides assurances that policy makers will act to prevent serious disruptions. DJ30 +286.87 NASDAQ +36.08 SP500 +34.61 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1614/1450/2.61 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1558/1779/2.04 bln

5:26PM Qualcomm will appeal and seek stay on ITC ban on imports of future 3G mobile broadband handset models (QCOM) 41.78 +1.01 : Co announces that it will appeal and renew its request for a stay of the International Trade Commission ban on imports of future 3G mobile broadband handset models. QCOM maintains that none of Broadcom's (BRCM) patent claims are valid or were infringed upon by QCOM. The co made its announcement today in response to the lack of a Presidential reversal of the I.T.C order. In addition to pursuing the appeal and stay request with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (the stay had originally been denied solely on the procedural basis that it could not be heard by the appellate court until after a decision on the veto), the co affirmed its commitment to minimizing the impact of the I.T.C order and is working closely with its customers and the operators on the implementation of new software. While the acceptability of this new software is subject to challenges by BRCM, they are confident that it is outside the scope of the I.T.C order and they are confident in the technical performance of this software. Co says that customer acceptance has been strong.

5:02PM Maxim Integrated appoints Bruce Kiddoo, Vice President of Finance; will assume CFO post after restatement is complete (MXIM) 31.47 +0.97 : Co announces the appointment of Bruce Kiddoo as Vice President of Finance. He will assume the CFO title following the completion of the co's restatement.

4:49PM Broadcom issues press release in response to ITC decision (BRCM) 33.44 +0.48 : Co issued the following statement after a decision by the Bush Administration to let stand the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) order barring the importation of Qualcomm (QCOM) chips and certain cellular phones containing those chips that infringe a Broadcom patent. Co says, "We are gratified by the decision of U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab not to intervene in this case... In upholding the ITC remedy, the Administration is also encouraging a market-based solution to patent issues that is in the best interests of American consumers, U.S. companies and global patent protection." To date, Qualcomm (QCOM) has been found to infringe four different BRCM patents, one tried in the ITC and three others tried before a federal jury in May in Santa Ana, Calif. The Santa Ana jury found QCOM's infringement of the three Broadcom patents to be willful. An injunction hearing in that case, in which BRCM is seeking to bar future infringement by QCOM, is set for August 14. (See 16:32 comment for original report of the ITC decision)

4:33PM Rudolph Tech reports Q2 EPS in line, revs light (RTEC) 15.63 +0.30 : Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.19 per share, in line with the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.19; revenues fell 15.9% year/year to $47.7 mln vs the $48.8 mln consensus.

3:59PM Market View: Strong recovery rally (TECHX) : Solid turnaround day for the market with the large cap Dow and S&P 500 the top performing indices. Sector strength came from the Financials with positive commentary on BSC (+1.5% and $10 off the low), an upgrade for MER (+5.6%) and a buyback in WFC (+5.5%) providing incentive for a wave of bargain hunting in this beleaguered sector (largest in the S&P 500). An afternoon rebound extension in Home Construction and Energy off the lows provided a secondary boost for the bounce allowing the Dow and S&P 500 to recoup the majority of losses from Friday's high to this morning's early low. Sector strength was also noted in Insurance +4.2%, Trucking +2.8%, REITS +2.6%, Tobacco +2.4%, Biotech +2.3%, Drug +2.3%, Retail +2.1% and Restaurant +1.7%. Some weakness was noted in Gold/Silver -1.6%, Airline -1.6%, Oil Service -1%. The S&P 500 held at its one year moving average (12 exp monthly) and the Nasdaq Comp reversed after testing its 200 ema/sma.

3:12PM Trident Microsystems reschedules Q4 of fiscal year 2007 conference call (TRID) 15.44 -0.08 : Co announces it has postponed their scheduled conference call to discuss financial results from today until tomorrow 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, August 7, 2007. The co will release financial results after the market close on the same day. Co says "... unfortunately due to a delay in the process of preparing our restated Annual Report for Fiscal year 2006 on SEC Form 10K, we have taken a decision to delay today's scheduled financial results press release and conference call until tomorrow August 7, 2007..."

09:37 am Sigma Designs: Roth Capital reiterates Buy. Target $40 to $42. Roth raises their Q2 & FY08-09 ests and raises their tgt on SIGM to $42 from $40, saying their checks reveal that SIGM has been designed into Blu Ray DVD players from Samsung and Mitsubishi. Firm also thinks that Q2 revs are tracking ahead of expectations.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Stocks got crushed Thursday, plunging right out of the gate; and every attempt to buy on the day's dips was met with even stronger waves of selling pressure.

Renewed fears about credit risk, this time from across the pond, prompted investors to take a deeper look at the severity of the ongoing subprime problem and the difficulties that diminishing liquidity is having on banks and brokers to accurately value assets. Such worries led us to downgrade the Financial sector to Underweight back in mid April.

The latest shoe to drop came from BNP Paribas. The French bank halted withdrawals from three of its funds as a lack of liquidity left it unable to fairly value their holdings on account of the turmoil in the U.S. credit market. Also discouraging was the fact that the company's CEO reportedly said just last week that the bank's exposure to U.S. subprime was "absolutely negligible."

The news out of Europe prompted a 50-basis point jump in Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) to its highest level in six years and prompted the ECB to inject nearly 95 bln euros ($130 bln) into money markets. The Fed also chimed in by adding $24 bln in banking reserves. Such attempts to temporarily ease the pain of a possible credit crunch, however, were viewed with a glass half empty and merely exacerbated the worst of liquidity fears.

Not surprising, given its substantial exposure to mortgage lending and widening credit spreads, the Financial sector (-3.8%) got hammered, slipped further into negative territory for the year. With the most influential sector also the day's weakest link, it was not surprising to see the S&P 500 outpace the Dow and Nasdaq to the downside.

The broader market posted its worst one-day decline (-3.1%) since March 2003. All 10 economic sectors closed sharply lower, plunging 2.9% on average. Of the 147 S&P industry groups, only 10 posted gains.

Retailers were another blemish and were looking weak before the market even opened, as the bulk of July same-store sales figures missed forecasts.

Home Depot (HD 35.79 -2.01) later saying it may need to reduce the price of the pending $10.3 bln sale of its supply business, and lowering the price of its modified Dutch tender offer, lent further credence to the view that the housing correction and tighter credit conditions are weighing on more than the consumer. The stock's 5.3% drubbing contributed to the Dow's second worst performance (-2.9%) this year.

On the NYSE, where trading curbs went into effect an hour before the close, decliners outpaced advancers by a nearly 4-to-1 margin while above average volume showed added conviction on the part of sellers.

A 22% surge on the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index) to its highest level in four years further underscored the lack of enthusiasm to own equities and the bear's belief that stocks have further to fall. BTK -1.2% DJ30 -387.18 DJTA -2.1% DJUA -2.7% DOT -2.3% NASDAQ -56.49 NQ100 -2.6% R2K -1.4% SOX -0.7% SP400 -2.3% SP500 -44.40 XOI -3.4% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1999/1081/3.57 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2621/706/2.40 bln

4:43PM NVIDIA announces 3-for-2 stock split (NVDA) 46.13 +0.54 :

4:38PM NVIDIA beats on EPS, revs (NVDA) 46.13 +0.54 : Reports Q2 (Jul) GAAP earnings of $0.43 per share, $0.09 better than the GAAP Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.34; reports non-GAAP earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding stock based compensation and the associated tax impact, $0.08 better than the non-GAAP First Call consensus of $0.43; revenues rose 36.0% year/year to $935.3 mln vs the $859.8 mln consensus. Co reports non-GAAP gross margins 45.6% vs 45.5% street expectation.

3:59PM Market View: Steady afternoon slump follows gap down start (TECHX) : The market was up aggressively the previous three sessions (S&P and Nasdaq Comp more 5%) but stalled in the vicinity of resistances on Wednesday Rumors swirling about subprime issues triggered the late Wednesday pullback which was extended off the open today amid additional subprime worries out of Europe. The indices began to bounce 10 minutes into the day with the decent rebound (+1.1% to 1.8% for the three majors) taking a breather near midday. The sideways drift gave way in the afternoon as once again subprime (and hedge fund) talk made the rounds with a steady slide noted into late session action. A modest pullback after a strong run to resistance is constructive as long as the pattern is overlapping with retracement levels holding. Thus far the Russell 2000 has held near the 38% level of the recent recovery, Nasdaq Comp 50% and S&P 400/500 near 62%. However, the 387 point slump in the Dow cleared these levels and unless the it can avoid any further subprime worries and begin to stabilize/rotate higher over the very near term (needs to clear 13420/13430) the door is open back to the Aug lows.

9:15AM KLA-Tencor announces an additional 10 mln share repurchase program (KLAC) 58.71 :

8:02AM Pixelplus obtains a completely favorable ruling from the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Korea Intellectual Property Office (PXPL) 1.06 : Co announces it obtained a completely favorable ruling from the Intellectual Property Tribunal of the Korea Intellectual Property Office on the non-infringement of item 12 of the disputed sensor patent claimed by MagnaChip Semiconductor. Specifically, the ruling from the Intellectual Property Tribunal at KIPO confirmed that the co's sensor patent does not infringe item 12 of the disputed sensor patent claimed by MagnaChip.

09:34 am Methode Electronics: Robert W. Baird upgrades Underperform to Neutral. Target $13. Baird upgraded METH to Neutral from Underperform and maintained their $13 tgt after yesterday's 15% price decline. Firm is not aware of incremental news to account for the decline, and say it could be related to variety of trading strategies. Firm says long-term investors could accumulate stock around this level, they are looking to become more aggressive near $11.

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ACLS Charts - Might be worth a look here. Still profitable (barely) and selling slightly below book value:





http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=ACLS

http://www.smartmoney.com/pricecheck/index.cfm?story=worksheet&symbol=ACLS&nav=pc_snaps

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Amateur Investors Weekend Stock Market Analysis 9/8/07

http://www.amateur-investor.net/Weekend_Market_Analysis_Sep_8_07.htm

The most likely scenario in the weeks ahead is for the major averages to retest their August 16th lows. Meanwhile if the August 16th lows are retested the question is will this lead to the development of a bullish Double Bottom pattern like occurred in the Fall of 1998. Back in 1998 it took roughly 7 weeks for the S&P 500 to make it's first bottom in early September after peaking in mid July (point A) which was then followed by a choppy 15 day rally that peaked in late September (point B). This was then followed by a retest of the initial bottom in early October which only took 11 trading days and led to the formation of a bullish Double Bottom pattern. This was then followed by strong rally in which the S&P 500 rose back to its previous July high and gained around 25%.



The current chart of the S&P 500 shows a rather similar pattern developing as it took 5 weeks for the first bottom to occur near 1370 which was then followed by a choppy 12 day rally.



Meanwhile the 1370 level in the S&P 500 coincides with with its longer term 23.6% Retracement Level calculated from the October 2002 low to the July high. Also notice that the S&P 500's 25 Month EMA (blue line) comes into play right near the 1370 level as well and has acted as a support area in the past (points C).



One positive development for the market is that the professional investment advisors are becoming more bearish as the 3 week average of bearish advisors has now risen back above the 35% level. Since the mid 1990's each time the 3 week average of bearish advisors has exceeded 35% (points D) this has been followed by an eventual bottom within a few weeks followed by a strong rally (points E to F). Thus if the S&P 500 does retest its August 16th low near 1370 this could lead to a significant bottom followed by a strong rally if history repeats itself.

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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 23-Nov-12

http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/update

Dow +172.79 at 13009.68, Nasdaq +40.30 at 2966.85, S&P +18.12 at 1409.15

Equities began today's abbreviated session with a bullish bias. The sentiment was maintained into the close as the S&P 500 reached its high during the first hour of trade, and hovered near that area until the close. The markets were unfazed by headlines from overseas which indicated the Eurozone Summit has been postponed and will likely take place early next year. Today's volume was well below-average and trade was trapped in a narrow range. As a result, the S&P 500 advanced 1.3%.

Technology stocks led the broader market. Shares of Apple (AAPL 571.50, +9.80) added 1.7% as the stock attempts to halt its recent slide.

Semiconductor manufacturers outperformed and the PHLX Semiconductor index gained 1.8%. Among individual stocks which comprise the index, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 16.84, +0.58) advanced 3.6% after Taiwan's finance minister called on the government to begin purchasing individual equities.

Looking at other outperformers within the semiconductor average, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.95, +0.08) and Lam Research (LRCX 35.34, +0.84) saw respective gains of 4.3% and 2.4%.

Also of note, OCZ Technology (OCZ 1.16, -0.03) slid 2.5% after the company received a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and a subpoena requesting certain company documents. The investigation pertains to financial reporting of customer incentive programs among other matters.

Elsewhere, Research in Motion (RIMM 11.66, +1.40) surged 13.7% after National Bank Financial raised its estimates for Blackberry 10 sales. In addition, National Bank Financial raised the price target to $15 from $12.

Utility stocks continued their recent slide. The space was the only decliner among S&P sectors as settled lower by 0.3%. The biggest relative weakness was observed among electricity providers as Exelon (EXC 28.57, -0.28), Edison International (EIX 43.49, -0.33), and Southern Company (SO 42.03, -0.25) all lost between 0.6% and 1.0%.

The extended weakness in utility stocks comes as investors prepare for the possibility of a dividend tax hike. In addition, electricity providers are expected to face tougher regulation after Superstorm Sandy caused considerable damage to east coast infrastructure. Earlier in the week, the investigative panel appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo named Regina Calcaterra as the director. The newly-established panel will investigate utilities' preparation and response to Superstorm Sandy.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average advanced 1.1% and railroad stocks saw relative strength. Kansas City Southern (KSU 77.61, +1.28) gained 1.7% and Union Pacific (UNP 121.98, +1.94) advanced 1.6%.

There are no economic data points scheduled for a Monday release.

Week in Review: Stocks Register Gains During Abbreviated Week

On Monday, equities opened amid optimism regarding a potential fiscal cliff compromise. In addition, headlines out of Europe indicated the next tranche of Greek aid will likely come through before December 5. The positive sentiment supported the S&P 500 throughout the day and the benchmark average gained 2.0% after a final round of buying ran it to a session high close. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq outperformed with a gain of 2.2%. Apple (AAPL 571.50, +9.80) spiked 7.2% in an attempt to establish support and put a stop to its recent softness.

Tuesday began on a down note after Moody's cut France's sovereign rating to ‘Aa1' from ‘Aaa.' In addition, disappointing earnings from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 12.44, +0.50) contributed to the cautious sentiment. The major averages managed to break into positive territory by midday, but tumbled to fresh lows as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke in front of the Economic Club of New York. During his remarks, Mr. Bernanke commented on the fiscal cliff by saying that if a resolution is not reached, the economy would slide into recession. In such case, the Federal Reserve would be powerless as the Chairman does not believe the Fed has the tools necessary to deal with that eventuality. The S&P 500 followed the early afternoon slide with another climb towards the unchanged level before ending with a gain of 0.1%. Hewlett-Packard slumped 12.0% after reporting mixed results. In addition to the results, investors were drawn to another point of interest in the quarterly report. The report included an $8.8 billion charge related to serious accounting improprieties and misrepresentations by Autonomy Corporation before it came under Hewlett-Packard's control. Following the earnings release, ISI Group downgraded HPQ to ‘neutral' from ‘buy.'

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 endured choppy trade during the first two hours of action. The index followed the early indecision with a run to session highs where it spent the majority of the afternoon. The market received some encouraging news from the Middle East where Israel and Hamas have reached a cease-fire agreement. However, the Eurozone remains a concern into the holiday as the next tranche of Greek aid was yet to be approved. The day's trade was confined to a tight range and volume was well below average. As a result, the S&P 500 ended higher by 0.2%. Salesforce.com (CRM 159.45, +0.67) spiked 8.8% after beating on the top and bottom lines. In addition to the quarterly beat, the cloud computing company issued in-line fourth quarter and full-year earnings and revenue guidance.

Equity and bond markets were closed on Thursday in observance of Thanksgiving.

11:04 am Industrial Sector trading higher by 0.9% and in line with the S&P
Sector news: DSTI (+12.4%) DayStar Technologies received NASDAQ notice regarding late form 10-Q filing, ASTC (+9.3%) Astrotech: Boone Pickens disclosed 19.4% stake in 13D filing out Wednesday after the close, RLGT (+3.5%) Radiant Logistics announced 3 mln share stock buy back program, GFF (+2.2%) Griffon: GAMCO Investors disclosed 7.4% stake in 13D filing out Wednesday after the close, OSK (+2.1%) Oshkosh CEO bought 12K shares at $30.23-30.25, worth ~$400K, KSU (+1.3%) KC Southern Director bought 67.3K shares at $72.94-74.80 on 11/16, worth ~$11.5 mln, FAST (+1.1%) Fastenal Director sold 100K shares at $41.03, worth ~$4.1 mln, NAV (+1.1%) Navistar Director/10% owner MHR Holdings bought 127K shares at $19.59-19.67, worth ~$2.5 mln. In Broker Research, Hexcel (HXL +0.3%) tgt was lowered to $32 from $33 at Needham.

10:17 am S&P Information Tech Sector trading higher by 0.7% today

The tech sector is trading higher today, along with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength with the SOX trading 1.4% higher. Within the chip index, TSM (+3.9%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.7% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.8% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.7% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, MSFT (+1.8%) is a leader, while FB (-1.2%) is showing notable weakness. There were no earnings of note in the tech space. In news out Wednesday night, OCZ (-5.0%) announced that on November 15, 2012, it received a letter from the SEC indicating that they are conducting an investigation. Also, KITD (-61.8%) announced restatement of prior period financial statements and postponement of third quarter 2012 results. This morning, KITD's former Chairman/CEO urged company to discuss acquisition offer and conduct open and transparent sale process. Among rumors, ALU (+14.0%) is in discussions with GS (+1.5%) over financing, according to reports.

In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, TI (+2.6%) was upgraded to Neutral at HSBC. Also, National Bank Financial was out with positive comments on RIMM (+12.4%). Among downgrades, AUO (+5.3%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Bernstein and KITD (-61.8%) was downgraded to Market Perform at Northland. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

09:59 am S&P Energy trading higher and underperfoming the S&P
The S&P Energy Sector +0.4% is trading just below the broader market at +0.5%. Jan crude oil is +0.3% at $87.67/barrel, Dec natural gas is -0.3% at $3.89/MMBtu, Jan RBOB is -0.4% at $2.71/gallon, and Jan heating oil is -0.1% at $3.08/gallon.

Sector news: BBEP (+0.8%) Breitburn Energy to acquire Principally Oil properties in Kern County, California for ~ $40 mln in cash and ~3.013 mln common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership, NTI (+0.7%) Northern Tier Energy filed for a common unit offering representing limited partner interests by a selling unitholder, ENB (+0.5%) Enbridge to undertake $1.8 bln Edmonton to Hardisty mainline expansion program, BBG (+0.1%) ill Barrett provided an update on the fire at West Tavaputs compressor station: fire extinguished, damage limited. Broker calls: PQ (+2.8%) PetroQuest Energy upgraded at Stifel Nicolaus, E (+1.8%) ENI S.p.A upgraded at Macquarie.

08:23 am Mapp Pharma shares rise by 8% following FDA acceptance of NDA resubmission for Levadex
MAP Pharma (MAPP $13.89 +1.07) announced that its New Drug Application (NDA) resubmission for LEVADEX orally inhaled migraine drug for the potential acute treatment of migraine in adults has been accepted for filing by the FDA, The FDA has classified the resubmission as a complete, Class 2 response to the FDA's March 26, 2012 action letter and has set a goal date of April 15, 2013 under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

08:18 am GM shares little changed following news that Ally will sell its Europe operations to GM Financial
Ally Financial announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its operations in Europe and Latin America, as well as its share in a joint venture in China to GM Financial), a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors (GM $24.60 +0.00). The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in stages during 2013. Ally will receive an approximately $550 million USD premium to tangible book value, which for the third quarter of 2012 was approximately $3.7 billion. Based on the third quarter tangible book value for the combined operations, Ally would receive approximately $4.2 billion USD in proceeds from this transaction. The transaction includes auto finance operations in Germany, the U.K., Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, as well as a 40 percent equity stake in a joint venture in China. The combined operations in Europe and Latin America represented approximately $16.1 billion in assets at the end of the third quarter 2012.

08:16 am KIT Digital shares plunge 57% following restatement of results
KIT digital (KITD $0.87 -1.20) announced that, because of errors and irregularities identified by the Company in its historical financial statements, the financial statements for (1) the years ended December 31, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and (2) each of the three quarters in 2009, 2010 and 2011 will be restated. As a result of the restatement of these prior periods, the Company will also restate the quarters ended March 31, 2012 and June 30, 2012. Accordingly, investors should no longer rely upon the Company's previously issued financial statements for these periods, any earnings releases or other communications relating to these periods, or projections or estimates for any future periods. As a result, the Company will not timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2012 and will not issue an earnings release or host an earnings conference call. The accounting errors and irregularities giving rise to the restatement relate primarily to recognition of revenue related to certain perpetual software license agreements entered into by the prior management team in 2010 and 2011. As of today, the Company has approximately $10.6 million of cash and cash equivalents, of which approximately $4.0 million is restricted cash. The Company also has approximately $11.0 million outstanding under a secured loan facility and $2.5 million under an unsecured related party note. The Company is currently up to date with the principal and interest payments due under those loans, however, as a result of the restatement discussed above, there is an Event of Default under the secured loan facility and the Company is in discussions with the lenders. As previously disclosed, the Company has also experienced substantial losses this year, including costs related to previously disclosed litigations and restructuring expenses and will also incur additional costs related to the restatement discussed above. As a result of these circumstances, and based on the Company's forecast, the Company expects to continue to incur significant cash expenditures. As a result of these challenges, the Company is considering a broad set of strategic alternatives including financing transactions as well as other strategic transactions including a sale of the Company or its assets. The Company continues to examine the reduction of working capital requirements to further conserve cash and may need to take additional actions in the near-term, which may include additional personnel reductions and suspension of certain development activities.

08:13 am OCZ Tech shares lower by 8% following SEC inquiry
OCZ (OCZ $1.09 -0.10) announced that on November 15, 2012, it received a letter from the SEC indicating that they are conducting an investigation. As part of this notification, the Company also received a subpoena requesting certain documents and information generally related to its press releases on September 5, 2012 and October 10, 2012, and the financial reporting for customer incentive programs, among other matters. Ralph Schmitt, president and chief executive officer, noted that, "Since we delayed the filing of our second quarter 10-Q, we had proactively contacted the Commission and have been expecting them to conduct an investigation. We intend to cooperate fully regarding this non-public, fact-finding inquiry and are also continuing with our own internal investigation as previously announced." The SEC has informed the Company that this inquiry should not be construed as an indication that any violations of law have occurred or that the SEC has any negative opinion of any person, entity or security. The Company is unable to predict what action, if any, might be taken in the future by the SEC as a result of the matters that are the subject of the subpoena. The Company does not intend to comment further on this matter unless and until this matter is closed or further action is taken by the SEC which, in the Company's judgment, merits further comment or public disclosure.
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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Stocks began today's session on a negative note, and finished on their lows. Overnight reports from Europe indicated the International Monetary Fund and the Eurozone finance ministers agreed on the terms of the next installment of Greek aid. As part of the agreement, the country's debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to decline from 190% in 2014 to 124% in 2020. The news did little to inspire investor confidence as the markets are beginning to doubt the sovereign's ability to reach the lofty goals. Instead, market participants remained focused on Washington where Senator Harry Reid said little progress has been made in budget negotiations. After the Senate majority leader's comments, the S&P 500 fell to session lows from its flat line. The index declined further when a final round of selling pressured it to a loss of 0.5%.

The utilities sector appears poised for a rebound after enduring a rough month. Yesterday, utility stocks gained 1.3% on the strength of electricity providers after Deutsche Bank upgraded Exelon (EXC 29.76, +0.44). Today, the story repeated as the sector registered gains after ISI Group upgraded Exelon to ‘buy' from ‘neutral.' Exelon added 1.5% and other electricity providers caught a bid as well. NV Energy (NVE 18.31, +0.25), UNS Energy (UNS 41.30, +0.76), and PPL (PPL 28.81, +0.37) all gained between 1.4% and 1.9%.

Technology stocks performed largely in-line with the broader market, but Apple (AAPL 584.78, -4.75) underperformed with a loss of 0.8%. Earlier, the company fired the manager responsible for the issues with its map service.

Also of note, Seagate (STX 25.95, -1.39) slid 5.1% after company insiders exercised their options and sold stock. The news was a negative for Seagate as the company was seen as a potential takeover target. Stock sales by insiders suggest a deal is far from being completed. Western Digital (WDC 34.69, -1.12) fell 3.1% in sympathy.

The consumer staples sector outperformed the broader market, and the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF (XLP 35.38, -0.03) shed 0.1%. Among food producers, ConAgra (CAG 29.63, +1.34) rose by 4.7% after announcing plans to acquire Ralcorp (RAH 88.80, +18.57) for $90 per share. This represented a 28.2% premium to RAH's Monday closing price.

Elsewhere, Monster Beverage (MNST 51.96, +6.09) advanced 13.3%. Earlier, a letter sent from the Federal Drug Administration to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin indicated the regulatory body is conducting an investigation into the potential danger of Monster products as well as the possible need for increased regulation. However, the FDA said it does not see a problem with taurine and guarana, which are the two main additives in energy drinks.

A handful of footwear manufacturers saw strength after Goldman initiated coverage on two stocks. Crocs (CROX 13.49, +1.14) gained 9.2% after being assigned a ‘buy' rating. Meanwhile, Deckers Outdoor (DECK 36.27, +1.02) settled higher by 2.9% after receiving a ‘neutral' grade.

Elsewhere, Skechers (SKX 19.70, +0.64) rose by 3.4% while K-Swiss (KSWS 3.09, +0.11) surged 3.7%.

Looking at notable names which reported earnings since yesterday's close, ADT (ADT 43.57, +0.47) added 1.1% despite delivering disappointing quarterly results. The security company's earnings missed the Capital IQ consensus estimate by $0.01, while its revenue of $812 million fell short of the expected $819.85 million.

Separately, Thor (THO 38.60, -5.00) sank 11.5% after reporting first quarter earnings of $0.60 on $875.6 million in revenue. The company's bottom line fell short of analyst estimates by $0.03 while its revenue was reported in-line with expectations. Peer Winnebago (WGO 13.90, -0.13) slipped 0.9%.

Reviewing today's economic news, the September Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose by 3.0%, while a 3.1% increase had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. This followed the previous month's increase of 2.0%.

The latest consumer confidence reading for November came in at 73.7, while economists polled by Briefing.com expected a reading of 73.0. Today's figure follows last month's reading of 72.2.

Separately, the September Housing Price Index from the FHFA increased by 1.1%, which follows a 0.7% increase observed during the prior month.

Durable goods orders were unchanged in October, which was better than the 0.4% decrease that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com. This follows the downwardly revised prior month increase of 9.2%. Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders increased in October by 1.5%, which was better than the 0.4% decrease that had been broadly anticipated. Prior month's reading was revised down to reflect an increase of 1.7%.

In tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET. In addition, October new home sales and the October Beige Book will be released at 10:00 ET and 14:00 ET, respectively.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $35 billion in 5-yr notes.DJ30 -89.24 NASDAQ -8.99 SP500 -7.35 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1114/1.69 bln/1342 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1339/689.4 mln/1711

3:30 pm : Crude oil struggled in negative territory as a stronger dollar following better-than-anticipated U.S. economic data put pressure on prices. It broke into positive territory after dipping as low as $86.86 per barrel in morning pit action. However, the effort was short lived, and the energy component settled 0.6% lower at $87.19 per barrel.

Precious metals were also under pressure from the stronger dollar index. Gold trended lower into the red after it retreated from its session high of $1749.20 per ounce set moments after floor trade opened. It brushed a session low of $1741.20 per ounce moments before settling with a 0.4% loss at $1743.30 per ounce. Despite touching a session high of $34.16 per ounce in early morning pit action, silver fell into negative territory and struggled there for the remainder of its session. It dipped to a session low of $33.91 per ounce and like gold, settled 0.4% lower at $33.99 per ounce.

Natural gas slid off its session high of $3.91 per MMBtu into the red where it chopped around in morning pit action. However, buyers stepped in and took prices back above the break-even level. Natural gas managed to sustain the gain and eventually settled 0.5% higher at $3.89 per MMBtu.DJ30 -50.01 NASDAQ -0.24 SP500 -3.06 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1209/1419.7 mln/1229 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1505/460 mln/1492

1:42PM Hewlett-Packard issues statement regarding open letter from Mike Lynch: Co has initiated an intense internal investigation (HPQ) 12.55 -0.19 : Co issued the following statement in response to Mike Lynch's open letter to the HP board:

"HP has initiated an intense internal investigation into a series of accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations that occurred prior to HP's acquisition of Autonomy. We believe we have uncovered extensive evidence of a willful effort on behalf of certain former Autonomy employees to inflate the underlying financial metrics of the company in order to mislead investors and potential buyers. The matter is in the hands of the authorities, including the UK Serious Fraud Office, the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Enforcement Division and the US Department of Justice, and we will defer to them as to how they wish to engage with Dr. Lynch. In addition, HP will take legal action against the parties involved at the appropriate time. While Dr. Lynch is eager for a debate, we believe the legal process is the correct method in which to bring out the facts and take action on behalf of our shareholders. In that setting, we look forward to hearing Dr. Lynch and other former Autonomy employees answer questions under penalty of perjury."

LTX-Credence (LTXC) announced that Giga Solution Tech. has purchased multiple PAx testers for volume production testing of RF components including multiband and multimode RF power amplifiers, advanced front end modules and 802.11ac devices.

Riverbed Technology (RVBD) announced that Riverbed and Amazon (AMZN) Web Services have collaborated to deliver cloud performance and data protection solutions to enterprise customers.

8:05AM Corning sees fourth-quarter outlook for LCD glass volume approaching $1 billion (GLW) 11.35 : Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller Tony Tripeny will update investors at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference on the company's fourth-quarter performance expectations. Highlights of Tripeny's presentation will include:

Expectations for "stronger-than-forecasted" fourth-quarter LCD glass volume and full-year sales of Corning Gorilla Glass approaching $1 billion.
Tripeny will tell investors that stronger-than-expected retail demand for LCD televisions and other consumer electronics devices in North America and China are resulting in an improved view of the LCD glass supply chain. "
We now expect glass market volume to be up in the low single digits this quarter, versus our previous expectation of down low-to-mid single digits,"
"Corning's total LCD glass volume at its wholly owned business and Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd., should be up in the mid-single digits sequentially."
Tripeny will explain that North American TV sales are stronger than the company expected in the fourth quarter, the Chinese market continues to experience good demand, and the supply chain is preparing for the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.
He will reaffirm that Corning expects LCD glass price declines in the fourth quarter to be slightly higher than those in the third quarter, a result of the company's new agreements with key customers.
Looking forward, Tripeny will tell investors, "We expect our share of the LCD glass market to remain stable at quarter four levels as a result of the long-term supply agreements we entered into last quarter, and we anticipate price declines will be moderate in the first quarter."

Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) announced the sale of its Genesis Enterprise yield management software to a manufacturer of high definition displays for hand-held devices.

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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 30-Nov-12Dow +3.76 at 13025.58, Nasdaq -1.79 at 3010.24, S&P +0.23 at 1416.18

Equities were on uncertain footing during the first hour of the session. The S&P 500 followed the early indecision by sliding to its lows just above the 1410 level. A familiar theme played out intraday as President Obama and House Speaker Boehner held another round of press conferences. The President reiterated the importance of reaching compromise and expressed hope that enough Republicans can be convinced to break rank and vote in favor of his budget proposal. Meanwhile, House Speaker Boehner maintained his prior stance and said that Republicans are willing to compromise if Democratic lawmakers agree to spending cuts. Until then, the two sides remain at a stalemate. The benchmark average spent the majority of the day in the red, but a buying surge shortly before day's end lifted the index to flat close.

Financials saw relative weakness as the budget debate remains in focus. Citigroup (C 34.57, -0.64) lost 1.8% and was the weakest performer among the majors.

Though U.S. financials underperformed, their European counterparts advanced. Barclays (BCS 15.83, +0.17) and UBS (UBS 15.70, +0.11) added 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively. Earlier, Reuters reported Barclays may cut as many as 3500 investment bank positions and reduce the scope of its Asian operations.

Tech stocks lagged the broader market and large cap names saw weakness. Apple (AAPL 585.28, -4.08), International Business Machines (IBM 190.07, -1.46), and Microsoft (MSFT 26.61, -0.33) all lost between 0.7% and 1.2%.

Elsewhere, VeriSign (VRSN 34.15, -5.19) slid 13.2% after its updated agreement with the Department of Commerce limited the company's ability to increase domain registration prices.

Also of note, Groupon (GRPN 4.14, -0.40) fell 8.8% after company spokesman said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mason will not be replaced in the near term.

Consumer discretionary stocks saw weakness and carmakers weighed on the sector. Earlier, Ford Motor (F 11.45, -0.08) said it plans to increase its electric car market share to 11.0%, from the current 5.2%. Despite the news, shares of Ford finished lower by 0.7%. Looking at other automakers, Honda Motor (HMC 33.29, -0.30), Toyota Motor (TM 86.08, -0.43), and Thor (THO 37.74, -0.21) all lost between 0.5% and 1.0%.

Restaurant operator Yum! Brands (YUM 67.08, -7.39) also weighed on the discretionary space. The restaurant operator slid 9.9% after issuing full-year 2013 guidance and reaffirming its full-year 2012 earnings growth forecast of at least 13%. The guidance proved to be a point of concern as sales in China are expected to continue tracking lower. Following the update, Raymond James, Susquehanna, and UBS all downgraded the stock.

On the upside, teen retailer Five Below (FIVE 37.15, +5.76) soared 18.4% after beating on earnings and revenue. In addition, the company issued downside fourth quarter earnings guidance while revenue is expected to come in above consensus estimates.

The utilities sector was the top performer and the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 35.32, +0.37) settled higher by 1.1%. Within the space, electric utilities paced the advance. Duke Energy (DUK 63.82, +1.43) gained 2.3% after reaching settlement with the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The settlement aims to resolve issues following the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy. In addition, the company President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers announced his intention to retire by the end of next year. Looking at other utility stocks, Northeast Utilities (NU 38.74, +0.58) and IDACORP (IDA 42.71, +0.47) both advanced near 1.3%.

In economic news, the November Chicago PMI reading of 50.4 surprised to the downside as economists surveyed by Briefing.com had generally expected a reading of 50.7 to follow the prior month's 49.9.

Personal income was unchanged in October, which was below the 0.2% increase expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Personal spending decreased by 0.2%, which was below the expected 0.1% uptick. Core personal consumption expenditures were higher by 0.1%, which fell short of the broadly expected reading of 0.2%.

Monday's economic data will include the November ISM Index as well as October construction spending. The two reports will be released at 10:00 ET. In addition, automakers will report their sales throughout the day.

Week in Review: Equities Eke Out Gains amid Fiscal Cliff Debate
On Monday, equities began the week on a cautious note as uncertainty crept back into the markets. Overseas, the Eurogroup continued to discuss the next tranche of Greek aid. Reports from the talks indicated lawmakers remained split over whether or not haircuts should be applied to the outstanding Greek debt. Additionally, elections in the Spanish region of Catalonia resulted in two-thirds of the vote going to parties which support a referendum on independence. The European news combined with some profit-taking following Friday's rally translated into a downbeat session which saw the S&P 500 slip 0.2%. Retailers succumbed to the broad market pressure, and the SPDR S&P 500 Retail ETF (XRT 63.27, -0.09) slid 1.0%.

Tuesday's session began on a negative note, and the indices finished on their lows. Overnight reports from Europe indicated the International Monetary Fund and the Eurozone finance ministers agreed on the terms of the next installment of Greek aid. As part of the agreement, the country's debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to decline from 190% in 2014 to 124% in 2020. The news did little to inspire investor confidence as the markets doubted the sovereign's ability to reach the lofty goals. Instead, market participants remained focused on Washington where Senator Harry Reid said little progress has been made in budget negotiations. After the Senate majority leader's comments, the S&P 500 fell to session lows from its flat line. The index declined further when a final round of selling pressured it to a loss of 0.5%. Exelon (EXC 30.22, +0.26) gained 0.9% after ISI Group upgraded the stock to ‘buy' from ‘neutral.'

On Wednesday, equities opened lower, but staged a reversal when top lawmakers reiterated their desire to reach a budget agreement. After marking a session low near its 200-day moving average, the S&P 500 reversed 25 handles to session highs. The reversal was aided by comments from House Speaker Boehner who said he is optimistic a deal can be reached in order to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. In addition, the President held a press conference where he reiterated his belief in higher tax rates for top earners. He also stressed that if Congress fails to approve selective tax increases, going over the cliff will result in an across-the-board tax hike. The S&P 500 ended the session with a gain of 0.8%. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR 36.67, +0.30) surged 27.3% after reporting strong earnings.

Thursday started on a positive note after Wednesday's comments from House Speaker Boehner were viewed as supportive. However, the Speaker held another press conference on Thursday at which he said no "substantive progress" has been made. The S&P 500 responded to Mr. Boehner's remarks by falling back to its flat line. The weakness did not last long, and the benchmark average was able to regain its losses to close higher by 0.4%. Kohl's (KSS 44.65, -0.37) sank 12.0% after its same store sales declined by 5.6% on expectations of a 2.1% increase.

 
 Index	  Started Week	Ended Week  Change  % Change	YTD % 
 DJIA	    13009.68	 13025.58   15.90     0.1	6.6 
 Nasdaq	     2966.85	  3010.24   43.39     1.5      15.5 
 S&P 500	1409.15	  1416.18    7.03     0.5      12.6 
 Russell 2000  807.18	   821.92   14.74     1.8      10.9

STMicroelectronics (STM) announced that it will present its new strategic plan on Dec 10, 2012 before European stock markets open

7:00AM SemiLEDs files form 12b-25 notification of late filing (LEDS) 1.14 : Co announced today that it has filed a Form 12b-25, Notification of Late Filing, with the SEC that allows the Company to extend the deadline to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2012. With this extension, if the Form 10-K is filed by December 14, 2012, the Form 10-K will be deemed to be timely filed.

OmniVision (OVTI) reported second quarter earnings of $0.33 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.30, while revenues rose 79.0% year/year to $390.1 million versus the $375.06 mln consensus. The company issued upside guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.33-0.46, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.34 consensus and revenues of $390-425 mln versus the $363.64 million consensus. "I am pleased to announce the addition of Raymond Wu to OmniVision's management team. Raymond, one of our co-founders, has agreed to re-join us as our President, effective Dec 1, 2012. During his previous tenure, Raymond's intellect, experience and influence extended to market development, engineering and sales. We are enthused by his return, and with his knowledge of our company and the industry, I expect Raymond to make significant contributions to OmniVision's continued growth in the years to come."

10:54 am S&P Tech sector trading lower today

The tech sector is trading lower today, just trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength, however, with the SOX trading 0.1% higher. Within the chip index, AMD (+4.9%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.2% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, VZ (+0.4%) is a leader, while FB (-1.4%) is showing weakness.

In tech earnings last night, SPLK (-6.1%) and OVTI (-7.2%) posted quarterly beats and issued upside guidance, while AVGO (-1.9%) and MENT (+0.9%) reported beats, but offered downside guidance. In news, ZNGA (-8.4%) and FB (-1.4%) entered into an amendment, whereby FB's standard terms and conditions for game developers, will apply to Zynga's use of the Facebook platform through May 13, 2015. Elsewhere, ELRC (+3.6%) and TLAB (+14.2%) declared special dividends. Also, VRSN (-15.2%) announced the US Department of Commerce's approval of newly revised '.com' registry agreement. VRSN's current pricing of $7.85 per domain name registration will continue for the six-year term Among rumors, GRPN (-7.9%) CEO Mason will not be replaced in the near term, according to reports. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, BELFB (+2.6%) was upgraded to Buy at Needham and ACTV (+10.5%) was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, FBR Capital downgraded NTLS (-23.8%) to Underperform.

[ReturntoSender]

InvestmentHouse Weekend Market Summary

http://www.investmenthouse.com/weekendmarketsummary.htm

- A bit of indecision ahead of the weekend after a second week of rallying.
- Indices hold breaks of resistance.
- Fiscal Cliff negotiations 'almost nowhere' but beware: a 'framework' has been established, meaning a bad deal that won't solve the problem will be cobbled together.
- Leaders: some market leaders fail, some leaders return to prominence.
- Disposable income continues its negative ways.
- Chicago PMI expands but really contracts.
- Week three of the rally begins. Still don't like the look but it keeps moving higher. Until a deal is struck, it very well could continue on QE4 speculation.

A pause after second week of the fiscal deal/QE4 anticipation rally.

Remember the June to September move? It didn't take too long to figure it was in anticipation of QE3. QE3 was announced, the market jumped higher, but then the move was done and stocks sold off into November.

Now stocks are up two weeks even in the face of the fiscal cliff. A selloff to the 61% Fibonacci retracement, an oversold bounce, then the idea of a budget deal, and now, yes, a new round of QE, has helped SP500 to a solid 5% bounce.

Ahead of the weekend stocks developed a bit of the cold feet syndrome. Thursday the indices broke next resistance , but in some cases they still have continuing resistance to face, e.g. SP500.

They also have to deal with the ongoing fiscal cliff so-called negotiations. The market, as noted, seems to have assumed a deal will be reached. Ironically, tonight a M*A*S*H rerun story line was about the end of the war. Everyone celebrated and partied, then they found out it was just another false alarm and it was back to harsh reality.

Friday there was more reality as the President rolled out the same old line: give middle class tax cuts now (i.e. renew those and let the others expire) and deal with the other issues later. That is called the ol' Potomac two-step (from 'Clear and Present Danger').

Boehner's response: 'Right now we're almost nowhere.' This after Mitch McConnell broke out in laughter after Geithner's offer of $1.6T in tax hikes, $50B in Keynesian stimulus, and the authority to raise the debt ceiling at will. Sure sounds as if they are almost nowhere.

Obama: It's called the Potomac two-step.
Boehner: I don't dance.

Well, maybe he does dance. In generally denying any progress today Boehner let slip one of the code words: framework. Whenever you hear that word get ready for a punt. Framework means Boehner will offer the $800B in higher taxes he thought was agreed to during the debt ceiling negotiations versus Obama's $1.6T. From there they split the baby in some way and then they actually do kick the can into 2013 for the truly important aspects involving budget and entitlement cuts. But you know what, the bargaining power will be gone and nothing of substance will result. Thus we can only hope that is not the case. It would be, however, against that old DC tradition of avoiding any action until utter disaster strikes.

Ah those are the undercurrents, the sausage making that is so confusing and disturbing to many. Perhaps that is why so many tune out our leaders when they engage in trying to resolve hotly divided issues. The confounding aspect of this one for not only republicans but some democrats (e.g. Senator Schumer) is that the President is putting a political move (raising taxes on those making $200K or more) over the good of the country: taxes and the cliff will cause a recession according to both sides and independent think tanks but that does not seem to matter. That is not my observation but one from a Clinton advisor.

Nonetheless the market seems relatively comfortable with the status quo. As noted investors appear to believe a deal will come, kick the can or no, and that the Fed will try and preemptively grease the wheels with some QE4. Thus the rally on the week and thus the hold of the gains into the weekend.

What was that late surge? MSCI rebalance forced a lot of buys and sells late, jumping stocks upside and pumping up the volume. Outside of that it was a very deliberate, go nowhere session after the two week rally bumped into the weekend. They held their gains and the Thursday break of resistance on NASDAQ et al, but they also have to deal with some more resistance near term. We didn't expect much on the day, and it delivered.

SP500 0.23, 0.02%
NASDAQ -1.79, -0.06%
DJ30 3.76, 0.03%
SP400 0.04%
SOX -0.13%
RUTX -0.16%

OTHER MARKETS

Dollar. 1.3000 versus 1.2974 euro. Again the dollar tried the 50 day EMA on the high and again it was rebuffed. Thought it would be easy for the dollar to resume the upside given the one-day dump two Fridays back. Not. It bumped the March peak two weeks back and rolled over. Head and shoulders is getting close and looks as if it may have solidified.

Bonds. 1.61% versus 1.62% 10 year Treasury. Still at the 20 day EMA, still testing the prior break higher. With talk of QE4 as a 'just in case' measure from the Fed, bonds have a natural bid as the next obvious choice for more Fed asset buying.

Gold. 1713.30, -16.20. Gold sold back Wednesday and could not recover off the 50 day EMA, closing out the week at that level. If there will be stimulus gold should rally. It is struggling a bit but in position to move higher still and continue the bounce off the 200 day SMA.

Oil. 88.91, +0.84. sold the first part of the week then recovered Thursday and Friday. Right back to the 50 day EMA on the Friday close, exactly where oil stalled the prior touches. Critical step for oil.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

Internals.

NASDAQ
Stats: -1.79 points (-0.06%) to close at 3010.24
Volume: 2.027B (+16.29%)

Up Volume: 1.11B (-120M)
Down Volume: 1.06B (+569.25M)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Decliners led 1.04 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 2.58 to 1

New Highs: 53 (-27)
New Lows: 26 (+1)

NYSE/S&P
Stats: +0.23 points (+0.02%) to close at 1416.18
NYSE Volume: 756M (+19.81%)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Advancers led 1.24 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 2.53 to 1

New Highs: 146 (-31)
New Lows: 14 (-1)

Dow
Stats: +3.76 points (+0.03%) to close at 13025.58

Volume: Volume jumped but it was the result of two aspects. First, the MSCI rebalance required buying and selling to get the proper portfolio mixes. Second, end of month adjustments with the year end coming fast. Thus you cannot put too much stock in the volume jump.

Breadth. Back to a more tame level, matching the market.

THE CHARTS

SP500. Held the move over the 50 day EMA, showing a doji, posting an upside week. Still some serious resistance, however, with the March and April peak and August peak immediately overhead. Up on the week but still a lot of work to do to get past 1428. The overall pattern still looks weak, but thus far the relief bounce has held and indeed extended the move this week.

NASDAQ. Held the Thursday gap through the 2011 up trendline and the 200 day SMA. As with SP500, not overly impressed with the overall pattern, but it has taken over some of the leadership role, it has some big name stocks moving well, and it is not giving up its gains, at least for now. Still has some room to run to 3040ish.

Russell 2000/SP400. Flat on Friday but a nice gap Thursday took the small caps through the downtrend from August. Still a lot of overhead resistance but room to run before it gets there. As with NASDAQ, RUTX started showing some leadership last week.

SP400 midcaps were flat, bumping some serious resistance at 1000 to 1005. That is what it gets for its strong moves. Not bad but likely needs a bit of rest before breaking higher. One of the strongest in the market right now.

SOX. Held the move over the 50 day EMA and that opens the door for some more upside, but SOX is mired deep in it still, even after two weeks upside.

DJ30/DJ20. The Dow is above the 200 day SMA but below the 50 day EMA and some serious resistance at 13,100. It is moving with the other indices, however, so it has held its gains. Really don't like the way it looks; bearish pattern. It is, however, following and not leading . . . up or down.

DJ20. Faded to the 200 day SMA, undercut it, but recovered to hold it on the close. Still a solid run and just took a breather Friday.

Summary: No relative changes Friday. The growth indices took over leadership on the week and remain in the best position to continue. SP500 and DJ30 are very worrisome pattern-wise as they still just look as if they are in a relief move. True, but they continue to hold up and have showed no signs of fading back.

LEADERSHIP

Big names. NASDAQ names performed very well on the week: GOOG and AMZN continued higher Friday, EBAY as well. They are really providing the upside impetus for NASDAQ, but more need to develop and follow.

Financial. Nowhere all week, falling early then rebounding, but all in a narrow range. Nothing spectacular, just held up. If they start to contribute then things do indeed change. BAC was up, C was down. It was basically stock to stock on the session.

Retail. Very interesting week with Same Store Sales. YUM imploded Friday as it said its China sales cooled and would continue. How strong is China??? LULU was solid on the week. ULTA shot to life Friday. WMT enjoyed a great day and week. FDO surged nicely. DG is rallying. Note the shift in retail to the discounters? Never a good sign for the economy, particularly heading into Christmas

Technology. FFIV still bumping the upper side of its channel. CTSH may try a rally. CTXS flopped Friday but is still in its pattern. Chips rallied well on the week, at least some of them (e.g. ONNN). A bit of a test and we may get a shot at some of these next week.

Energy. OII still looks interesting. APC in natural gas is interesting as well. Not causing us to race to the buy button, but worth keeping an eye out. Service companies such as SLB are trying for a rally.

Homebuilders. KBH started to crack. TOL looks a bit heavy. PHM is struggling a bit as well, perhaps forming a right shoulder.

Materials. Still strong: LPX, TREX

THE ECONOMY

TO VIEW THE ECONOMY VIDEO CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK:
Economy Summary Video

Personal Income flat, spending falls, disposable income negative again.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."
--Muhammad Ali

"Disposable Income is negative, Personal spending falls, what people don't have they can't spend at the malls."
--Me, 2012

Congress awakens to the shock of budgeting . . .

Same Store Sales were vastly disappointing at less than 2% when 4.5% to 5% gains were expected.

October Spending fell 0.2% when a rise was expected.
Disposable Income: -0.1%

Disposable income fell for the third straight month and third straight negative read. Incomes are heading lower AGAIN after already falling 8.2% on average during the first 3.5 years of the Obama term.

These numbers were a surprise and it was necessary to assign blame. Enter (again) Sandy. That damn storm never seems to end. Never mind it snuck in at the end of October less than 2 days from month's end. Never mind the massive buying to stock up AHEAD of the storm that in reality likely pushed sales HIGHER.

No, the numbers don't jibe with the line that is being sold about a continued economic recovery. Thus it is necessary to find a scapegoat such as the hapless bastard in Ray Bradbury's classic 'Fahrenheit 451' who was minding his own business when the government selected him as the villain they were chasing but had lost track of.

No, we have a problem, and though it is the government's favorite tactic each month to find a reason to blame.

Where did that disposable income come from? Where did it go? Ask cotton-eyed Joe?

Or not. Consider, now after the election, the rather massive revision to disposable income the BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) slipped in after the release of the spending and income numbers: $40B in inflation adjusted disposable income was taken off the books for a period spanning March to October.

What would cause that revision? How was it overstated? Good questions, but no answers in the release.

The impact: Besides underscoring what we have been saying about disposable income running out, it takes about 0.25% off of the 2012 GDP calculations. Is this the only revision to come? Are you kidding? In the run up to the election all kinds of bogus numbers were reported. 'Quiet' revisions will be released for months and months that back those phony numbers out of the reports. After all, how else will the post-election economic malaise/recession/depression we are heading for be made to look better than it is? Write down lower what came beforehand for easier comparison!

Chicago PMI recovers back to expansion! But not really according the authors.

Ah Chicago. The Windy City. The city with shoulders. Home of the pig-cicle, at least according to M*A*S*H episode 59, Adam's Ribs.

I've eaten a river of liver Hello, Chicago? Adam's Here come the ribs.
and an ocean of fish! Ribs? I want to place a
takeout order . . .

Chicago . . . . . .

Clearly Chicago is on the mend given it is back above 50 after three months below. Not so fast according to the authors of the report. They are the ones putting the brakes on the good spirits, noting the internals and the trend.

Internals:

Order Backlogs: 49.6 versus 44.3. Better but still contracting.

New Orders: Weakest since 6/2009.

Without new orders production falls and backlogs fall, and Chicago PMI falls back to negative.

Recall back in May I reported that the authors were very worried about the trend of the internals, particularly new orders and order backlogs. They had declined a certain percentage for three months straight, and the survey authors said this is a very clear sign of recession in 6 to 9 months.

We are now 6 months from that prognostication in May. Ah ha many will say, just look at the Q3 GDP revision released Thursday showing 2.7% growth! Yes, but as demonstrated, 1.5 points of that was attributed to government spending and an inventory surge (remember me talking about all of those autos being stuffed down to the dealers? There you go: 36% of the GDP increase was due to inventory build). Business investment fell and consumption tailed off. That leaves 1.2% GDP growth and that likely is written lower. Sure feels like a recession to just about everyone I know. Already talk for Q4 is in the 1.4% range, and that is high. In another three months, particularly if aided by the FCliff, a textbook recession could be here.

THE MARKET

SENTIMENT INDICATORS

VIX: 15.87; +0.81
VXN: 16.96; +0.56
VXO: 16.15; +0.74

Put/Call Ratio (CBOE): 1.16; +0.15

Bulls versus Bears

Bulls: 39.3% versus 37.2% versus 38.3% versus 43.6 versus 41.5% versus 45.7% . Bouncing with some more momentum as the market continued its relief rally. Got closer to 35% but no cigar. Background: Undercut 35%, the threshold for bullishness, in early June. As noted, hit 34% in early June. It did its job and the market is on the rally. Hard drop to 34 from 39.3% as economic reality and a choppy stock market hit. Off the 55+ level hit in late February. That was the highest level since April and May of 2011, the peak of the post-bear market high. 35% is the threshold level suggesting bullishness. To be seriously bearish it needs to get up to the 60% to 65% level.

Bears: 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 28.7% versus 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 25.5%. Wow, just going nowhere, stuck in a rut. On the last run never made it to the 35% that can be a bullish indication, but the bulls were weak enough back in June. Over 35% is the threshold to be really be a good upside indicator. For reference, bearishness hit a 5 year high at 54.4% the last week of October 2008. The move over 50 took bearish sentiment to its highest level since 1995. Extreme negative sentiment. Prior levels for comparison: Bearishness peaked at 37.4% in September 2007. It topped the June 2006 peak (36%) on that run. That June peak eclipsed the March 2006 high (33%) and well above the 2005 highs that spawned new rallies (30% in May 2005, 29.2% in October 2005). That was a huge turn, unlike any seen in recent history.

MONDAY

Another big week of data from the ISM on Monday to the November Jobs report on Friday. 90K expected for non-farm payrolls and unemployment mysteriously back up to 8.0%. What did I say before about having to backtrack the pre-election numbers?

It is also a new month and that has seen new money enter the market the past four months. Just a day to the upside to start November, but several session rallies before that. Given the indices are on an upside roll, that could bring in some more bucks and extend the move up to that next resistance level that is, as noted above, not that far away.

Of course there is the Cliff. More precisely the debate around the cliff. That is the real action. Going over the cliff is somewhat of an unknown but then again it everyone seems to think it will result in recession.

Certainly they have to be addressed, but the methodology of the 'solution' is not what a republic is all about. Secret negotiations and 'deals' versus airing the problems, outlining the possible solutions, and getting the American citizens' views on each. The current method results in things such as Obamacare and the Sequestration where a few behind closed doors decide our fates. We have enough of that with the Fed; we don't need our elected officials operating in this manner.

Engaging in this kind of 'solution' is a no win for those who play the game. If you fail you are blamed because no ideas were put out in the light and the public did not have a chance to say 'you know, that is not a bad idea.' If you take your case to the public, make your arguments both to the other side and to the US citizenry during open, live, televised meetings, then everyone who cares, and there are many of us, sees all sides and will, yes, see the truth.

If I were the republicans I would insist on open, televised meetings where I would put forth the ideas espoused in Thursday's reports. I would take it to the people and say this is so important we must have everyone's input, kind of like Obama when he was running the first time and talked about healthcare reform on C-SPAN. Yes that happened.

Remember the movie 'Dave' where the press were invited to a cabinet meeting and the Secretary of Transportation, because the meeting was being covered (presumably by an HONEST press) had the cover to drop his rather silly reasons for a program to reassure auto buyers they bought the right car?

Of course the federal government had NO business involving itself in what 'Dave' was trying to get money for, but the point is clear: people tend to do the right thing when they are IN FRONT of the public versus being behind closed doors where they can be, well, asses, and won't get called out for it. We desperately need people to do the right thing. Man do we ever.

Well, that is more hope for change. Reality is another matter. Neither side, ironically, wants to cede that power to the people. They would rather take it in the cogs so to speak than let the public decide the matter.

Reminds me of an old 'King of the Hill' episode.
I know I get mad enough at our leaders to want to engage in some of that sometime . . .

Thus we are subject to the ebb and flow, staged or not, of the 'negotiations.' Again, Boehner let slip the 'framework' comment Friday even as he was complaining of going nowhere. Thus there is the very likely and very sad prospect of a deal to raise about $999B in revenues (republicans won't agree to anything with a 'T' after it) through marginal increases and/or closing the deductions many people rely upon, not to mention charitable deductions. After all, if the government is to provide everything, why do you need charities? It won't have anything but token cuts with perhaps a small percentage of budget cuts across the board. Nothing done to social security, and any Medicare cuts will be those the Democrats said they should get credit for and a few token ones in addition to the republicans can point to what a great job they did wresting more from the other side.

In the end, of course, the problem will remain and will not be resolved. Another downgrade is quite likely after the effeminate cuts are made. It won't prevent a recession, it won't spur growth. Then we have a worse problem a year later.

As for next week, however, we don't like the SP500 and DJ30 patterns. But, the indices have rallied nonetheless; those hope and buy rallies can last a while as we know, particularly when the Fed has the money bags out again.

Thus we will look for more upside though a lot of stocks are not in buy positions given a two week rally has some extended and others simply rebounded from ugly selloffs and are in no kind of pattern to buy.

We will also have some downside at the ready, however, because we don't like the SP500 and DJ30 patterns. NASDAQ isn't all that heartwarming either. So we will be ready in the event the rally runs dry. Remember, we said this was a relief rally until it proved otherwise. The patterns on the large cap indices suggest it is still just a relief rally at this point. The small and midcaps suggest it may be something else, but neither has taken the definitive lead yet.

Thus we let our upside work for us. We did bank some very nice upside gain on the week and if the move continues, there will be a lot more to cash in. It was somewhat ironic that Friday we banked some nice downside gain even after two weeks of upside: it is clear not all of the market is racing upside. Still, until the rally falters and reverse, we let some really nice upside positions run.

If things break they could turn rather quickly. Such is the nature of negotiations and credit markets getting stretched to the breaking point. Some very smart investors are very worried right now. But, it has not paid to invest with your emotions on this move, that is why we said over a week ago, better check them at the door.

Have a great weekend!

Support and resistance

NASDAQ: Closed at 3012.03
Resistance:
3024 is the gap point from early May
3026 from 10/2000 low
3042 from 5/2000 low and several other price points
3076 is the late April 2012 high
3090 is the mid-March interim high
3037 is the October low
3101 is the August 2012 high
3134 is the March 2012 post-bear market peak
3171 is the October intraday high
3197 is the September 2012 post-bear market high
3227 is the April 2000 intraday low
3401 is the May 2000 closing low

Support:
3000 is the February 2012 post-bear market high
2999 is the bottom of the August 2012 consolidation
2997 is the up trendline from 2011
The 50 day EMA at 2992
2988 is the July 2012 high
The 200 day SMA at 2986
2977 to 2980 is the bottom of the late October 2012 consolidation
2962 is the April 2012 low
2950 is the mid-April closing low
2942 is the mid-June 2012 high
2900 is the March 2012 intraday low
2858 is the late July 2011 peak
2847 is the mid-May 2012 low
2838 from the July 2012 lows
2778 from the May 2012 low and June 2012 gap point.
2747 is June 2012 closing low
2726 IS June 2012 intraday low

S&P 500: Closed at 1415.95

Resistance:
1422.38 is the prior post-bear market high (March 2012)
1425 from May 2008 closing highs and the October 2012 low
1427 is the August 2012 peak
1434 from early November 2012
1433 from August 2007 closing lows
1440 from November 2007 closing lows
1464 is the June up trendline
1463 is the September closing high
1466 is the September closing high
1471 is the October 2012 intraday high
1475 is the September 2012 high
1499 from January 2008
1539 from June 2007

Support:
The 50 day EMA at 1408
1408 is the late October range closing low
1406 is the early May 2012 peak
1402.22 is the closing low of the August 2012 lateral consolidation
The 200 day SMA at 1384
1378 is the February 2012 peak
1375 is the early July 2012 peak
1371 is the May 2011 peak, the post-bear market high
1363.46 is June 2012 high
1359 is the April 2012 low
1357 is the July 2011 peak
1344 is the February 2011 peak
1340 is the early April 2011 peak
1332 is the early March 2011 peak
1325 is the July 2012 intraday low
1309 is the right shoulder low from June 2012
1295 to 1294 is the April 2011 low and the February 2011 consolidation low (bottom of the trading range)
1293 is the October 2011 peak
1275 is the January 2010 low, early January 2011 peak
1267 is the December 2011 peak
1266 is the June 2012 base low

Dow: Closed at 13,021.82
Resistance:
13,056 is the February 2012 high
13,058 from the May 2008 peak on that bounce in the selling
The 50 day EMA at 13,067
13,297 is the April 2012, prior post bear market high
13,300 to 13,331 is the August 2012 post-bear market high
13,653 is the September 2012 high
13662 is the October 2012 intraday high
13,668 from 12-2007 peak
13,692 from 6-2007 peak
14,022 from 7-07 peak

Support:
The 200 day SMA at 12,994
12,716 is the April 2012 closing low
12,524 is a range of support from early 2012 and summertime 2012
12,391 is the February 2011 peak
12,369 is the left shoulder low from May 2012
12,284 is the October 2011 peak
12,258 is the December 2011 peak
12,110 from the March 2007 closing low
12,094 is the April 2011 low
12,035 is the June 2012 base low
The June 2011 low at 11,897 (closing)
11,734 from 11-98 peak
11,717 is the late August 2011 peak

Economic Calendar

November 27 - Tuesday
- Durable Orders, October (8:30): 0.0% actual versus -0.4% expected, 9.2% prior (revised from 9.8%)
- Durable Orders -ex T, October (8:30): 1.5% actual versus -0.4% expected, 1.7% prior (revised from 2.0%)
- Case-Shiller 20-city, September (9:00): 3.0% actual versus 3.1% expected, 2.0% prior
- Consumer Confidence, November (10:00): 73.7 actual versus 73.0 expected, 73.1 prior (revised from 72.2)
- FHFA Housing Price I, September (10:00): 0.2% actual versus 0.5% prior (revised from 0.7%)

November 28 - Wednesday
- MBA Mortgage Index, 11/24 (7:00): -0.9% actual versus -2.2% prior
- New Home Sales, October (10:00): 368K actual versus 388K expected, 369K prior (revised from 389K)
- Crude Inventories, 11/24 (10:30): -0.347M actual versus -1.466M prior

November 29 - Thursday
- Initial Claims, 11/24 (8:30): 393K actual versus 395K expected, 416K prior (revised from 410K)
- Continuing Claims, 11/17 (8:30): 3287K actual versus 3325K expected, 3357K prior (revised from 3337K)
- GDP - Second Estimate, Q3 (8:30): 2.7% actual versus 2.8% expected, 2.0% prior
- GDP Deflator - Second Estimate, Q3 (8:30): 2.7% actual versus 2.8% expected, 2.8% prior
- Pending Home Sales, October (10:00): 5.2% actual versus 1.0% expected, 0.3% prior

November 30 - Friday
- Personal Income, October (8:30): 0.0% actual versus 0.2% expected, 0.4% prior
- Personal Spending, October (8:30): -0.2% actual versus 0.1% expected, 0.8% prior
- PCE Prices - Core, October (8:30): 0.1% actual versus 0.2% expected, 0.1% prior
- Chicago PMI, November (9:45): 50.4 actual versus 50.7 expected, 49.9 prior

December 3 - Monday
- ISM Index, November (10:00): 51.2 expected, 51.7 prior
- Construction Spending, October (10:00): 0.4% expected, 0.6% prior
- Auto Sales, November (14:00): 5.2M prior
- Truck Sales, November (14:00): 6.0M prior

December 5 - Wednesday
- MBA Mortgage Index, 12/01 (7:00): -0.9% prior
- ADP Employment Change, November (8:15): 125K expected, 158K prior
- Productivity-Rev., Q3 (8:30): 2.7% expected, 1.9% prior
- Unit Labor Costs -Revised, Q3 (8:30): -0.8% expected, -0.1% prior
- Factory Orders, October (10:00): -0.1% expected, 4.8% prior
- ISM Services, November (10:00): 53.7 expected, 54.2 prior
- Crude Inventories, 12/01 (10:30): -0.347M prior

December 6 - Thursday
- Challenger Job Cuts, November (7:30): 11.6% prior
- Initial Claims, 12/1 (8:30): 382K expected, 393K prior
- Continuing Claims, 11/24 (8:30): 3275K expected, 3287K prior December 7 - Friday
- Nonfarm Payrolls, November (8:30): 90K expected, 171K prior
- Nonfarm Private Payrolls, November (8:30): 120K expected, 184K prior
- Unemployment Rate, November (8:30): 8.0% expected, 7.9% prior
- Hourly Earnings, November (8:30): 0.1% expected, 0.0% prior
- Average Workweek, November (8:30): 34.4 expected, 34.4 prior
- Michigan Sentiment, December (9:55): 82.4 expected, 82.7 prior
- Consumer Credit, October (15:00): $9.9B expected, $11.4B prior

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:05 pm : Today's session began on a positive note as upbeat European trade contributed to the bullish sentiment. However, the strength was temporary and the S&P 500 turned lower once the November ISM Index of 49.5 missed expectations. After sliding to its lows shortly after midday, the S&P 500 remained in the red and settled lower by 0.5%.

The materials sector was the biggest laggard as chemical producers saw broad weakness. In addition, utility and industrial stocks underperformed as well. The telecom space was the only advancer as defensive trade took hold.

Looking back at November, equities ended the month largely unchanged despite a mid-month stumble. The S&P 500 lost over 4.0% during the first half of the month, and managed a swift recovery. Headline-driven trade proved to be alive and well as the market hung on every word out of Washington regarding the ongoing budget talks.

In addition, European uncertainty remained palpable as Eurozone and International Monetary Fund officials spent longer than expected ironing out the details of the next tranche of Greek aid. The repeated attempts at implementing reforms have proven futile, and the sovereign's financial health has shown no signs of improvement. Due to this, officials, as well as the markets, are growing more skeptical regarding the country's ability at fulfilling further obligations. Elsewhere, Spanish region of Catalonia held an election, and the vote favored parties which support holding a referendum on secession.

Domestically, the attention turned to the budget debate after Barack Obama was reelected to second term as president.

Markets Unimpressed by Election Results

The major averages entered the November 7 election on an upbeat note. On Election Day, the S&P 500 advanced almost 1%, and the benchmark index ended the day just 3% below its 2012 high of 1474.51. That evening, equity futures saw a positive initial reaction to Mr. Obama's victory. However, sentiment turned as the morning approached and European markets began reacting to the results. The loss of optimism was attributed to questions whether a Democratic president and a split Congress can strike a budget deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. After President Obama was declared victor, the S&P 500 opened lower by 1%. Broad-based weakness persisted throughout the day and pressured the index to a loss of 2.4%.

The next six sessions saw continued softness and the S&P 500 lost an additional 3%. This was also notable from the technical standpoint because the slide brought the index below its 200-day moving average. As the markets continued heading south, Congressional leaders, as well as the President, held numerous press conferences aimed at reassuring the public regarding their determination to reach consensus. Despite the reassurances, the two sides maintained a familiar tone. President Obama insisted on increasing revenuemainly through tax hikes for top earners while House Speaker Boehner was more focused on spending cuts.

Apple Halts its Slide

On September 21, Apple (AAPL) marked its all-time high at $705.07. However, the following month saw the stock slide over 15% as shares approached bear market territory. The softness was notable as the S&P 500 shed only 2.2% during the same period. As such, early November weakness weighed on the largest tech component and caused it to underperform the market once again. The post-election sell-off resulted in Apple dipping another 9% before a mid-month reversal helped the stock recover its first-half losses entirely.

Utilities Suffer

Before Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on October 29, utility stocks were enjoying a solid six-month run. However, the storm caused considerable damage to infrastructure and weighed on electrical utilities. In addition, industry standards came into question after some areas remained without power for weeks. To investigate the matter, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed a special panel tasked with evaluating electric utilities' preparedness for extreme events. With the sector under scrutiny, investors considered the possibility of tighter regulation and increased costs for electric companies. As a result, the SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLF) lost nearly 5% during the month. Some commentators suggested the anticipation of a dividend tax hike at the end of the year is also responsible for the weakness. However, it should be noted that the high-yielding telecom sector was largely unchanged on the month.

Coal Burns Out

During the first presidential debate, Republican challenger Mitt Romney said he "likes coal." The remarks prompted a surge in coal stocks, and fueled the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL) to a 10% gain going into the election. President Obama's victory ensured that the administration will continue to favor cleaner energy, and coal stocks responded by retreating. Since November 7, KOL fell nearly 9% while individual names like Alpha Natural Resources (ANR, -25%), James River Coal (JRCC, -25%), and Peabody Energy (BTU -14%) saw significant losses.

Thanksgiving Rally Led by Turkeys of the Year

The Thanksgiving week saw a thin-volume rally, which halted the post-election slide. Interestingly, some of the top performers during that stretch were stocks that had suffered heavy losses during earlier months. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR, +46%), Groupon (GRPN, +52%), Nokia (NOK, +20%), and Research In Motion (RIMM, +26%)were among the names which underperformed going into the month, but saw outsized gains in the 30 days since.

Post-election Winners Flying Under the Radar

In addition to influencing near-term sentiment, the November election also created ripples in some thinly-traded corners of the market. Gun makers shot up following President Obama's reelection. On November 8, the S&P 500 lost over 2% but Smith & Wesson (SWHC) and Sturm, Ruger & Co (RGR) surged 7% and 10%, respectively. The two stocks continued their run and ended the month with respective gains of 13% and 33%. The post-election surge was sparked by concerns over tighter gun regulation during the President's second term. The concern was confirmed on Black Friday when 154,873 FBI background check requests for gun sales topped last year's one-day record by 20%. Gunsmiths enjoyed a tremendous run on the back of same regulatory concerns when President Obama was first elected. Since 2009, quarterly results of the two companies have frequently shown notable increases in order backlog as they struggled to keep up with the demand. The industry strength is confirmed in stock price as Smith & Wesson trades 370% above its value four years ago while Sturm & Ruger has added an eye-popping 900%.

Looking to December: Budget Showdown Front and Center

In December, markets will remain focused on the budget debate as the cliff nears. It is also likely that frequent press conferences aimed at calming the markets will continue. However, until a deal is reached, short-term volatility is likely to persist as investors continue showing heightened sensitivity to headlines and news reports.DJ30 -59.98 NASDAQ -8.04 SP500 -6.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1111/1.61 bln/1372 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1176/654.2 mln/1816

3:30 pm : Crude oil climbed to a session high of $90.33 per barrel in morning pit action but lost momentum despite a weaker dollar index. It tumbled into negative territory and brushed a session low of $88.75 per barrel. The energy component managed to inch slightly higher as it headed into the close and settled with a 0.1% gain at $89.05 per barrel.

Natural gas chopped around in positive territory, popping as high as $3.65 per MMBtu in late morning action. It dipped to a session low of $3.59 per MMBtu, but buyers stepped in and pushed prices back up such that natural gas settled 1.7% higher at $3.62 per MMBtu.

Precious metals traded in positive territory during today's pit trade as the weaker dollar index and U.S. economic data supported their advance. Both gold and silver popped to their respective session highs of $1724.90 per ounce and $33.93 per ounce on latest ISM Index data that showed the manufacturing sector contracting in November. Gains held steady for the remainder of the session with gold eventually settling 0.5% higher at $1721.10 per ounce and silver settling 1.3% higher at $33.74 per ounce.DJ30 -51.59 NASDAQ -7.56 SP500 -6.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1068/1345 mln/1410 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1091/423 mln/1884

4:03PM Oracle accelerates payment of three quarters of dividends (ORCL) 32.31 +0.14 : Co's Board has declared an accelerated second, third and fourth quarter cash dividend totaling $0.18 per share of outstanding common stock. Oracle's CEO and largest stockholder did not participate in the deliberation or the vote on this matter. This accelerated dividend is intended by the Board to be in lieu of quarterly dividends Oracle would have otherwise announced with its quarterly earnings results for the second, third and fourth quarters of FY13, and that would have been paid in calendar year 2013. This accelerated dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 14, 2012, with a payment date of December 21, 2012. The next opportunity for the Board to consider and approve the declaration of a dividend will be when Oracle announces its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 which ends on August 31, 2013.

4:02PM Flextronics acquires Saturn Electronics & Engineering, terms not disclosed (FLEX) 5.77 -0.03 : Co announced that it has acquired Saturn Electronics & Engineering, Inc., a supplier of electronics manufacturing services, solenoids and wiring for the automotive, appliance, consumer, energy and industrial markets. Based in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Saturn Electronics & Engineering most recently reported more than $300 million in annual revenue. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed.

STEC (STEC) announced the voluntary offer by Mark Moshayedi, president and chief executive officer, and Manouch Moshayedi, founder, to cut their annual salaries to $1 in response to STEC's ongoing efforts to lower its costs and improve its overall financial performance.

First Solar (FSLR) has completed an agreement with Zhenfa New Energy Science & Technology to supply 2 megawatts of its thin-film solar modules to one of Zhenfa's approved solar projects in Xinjiang province in the first quarter of 2013.


Qualcomm (QCOM) announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Life, is collaborating with new technology partners and customers who are leveraging the 2net Platform and Hub to enable wireless connectivity of medical devices and applications.


NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) announced its Advanced ASC884xA and ASC885xA series of single-chip video processors for HD IP security cameras.


SunPower (SPWR) announced that it signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture with partners Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, Inner Mongolia Power Group and Hohhot Jinqiao City Development Co for the manufacturing and deployment of the company's proprietary SunPower C7 Tracker concentrator technology in the Chinese market.

MagnaChip Semiconductor (MX) announced that it has partnered with eMemory Technology, of Taiwan in the development of leading edge 0.18um EEPROM intellectual property.


5:55AM Canadian Solar receives CAD139 mln non-recourse construction financing agreement (CSIQ) 2.63 : Co announces that it has signed a financing agreement pursuant to which Deutsche Bank has agreed to provide CAD139 mln ($139 mln) in non-recourse, short-term construction financing to Canadian Solar for the construction of solar power projects in Ontario, Canada. The loans are expected to be repaid with the proceeds of the sale of the respective financed projects. The loan facility is intended to support the simultaneous construction of five utility-scale solar power plants totaling 49 MW AC.


Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS) announced availability of a new Network Interface Device/Ethernet Access Device (NID/EAD) reference design delivering carrier-class networking for delivery of cloud-based business services.


LDK Solar (LDK) reported third quarter GAAP net loss of $1.08 and may not compare to ($1.24) Capital IQ consensus estimate; revenues increased 24% YoY to $291.5 million versus $246.4 million estimate. Co Shipped 230.2 megawatts of wafers and 161.9 MW of cells and modules in the third quarter. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, LDK Solar estimates its revenue to be in the range of $230-290 million and may not compare to $604.9 million est, wafer shipments between 200-250 MW, cells and module shipments between 50-80 MW.

Yahoo (YHOO) reports that the 49th Civil Court of the Federal District of Mexico City has entered a non-final judgment of $2.7 billion against Yahoo and Yahoo de Mexico, S.A. in a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs Worldwide Directories and Ideas Interactivas. Yahoo believes the plaintiffs' claims are without merit and will vigorously pursue all appeals. The plaintiffs alleged claims of breach of contract, breach of promise, and lost profits arising from contracts related to a yellow pages listings service.

Needham upgrades Finisar (FNSR) to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $18 based on expectations of improved new product momentum and service provider spending conditions for CY13. The firm thinks Finisar is seeing improved demand for its ROADM line card and LCoS WSS modules. They think new products such as the LR4 40/100G offering remain sold out and are producing strong growth.

09:53 am Information Technology Sector trading higher and ahead of the overall market today

The tech sector is trading higher today, ahead of gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness, however, with the SOX trading only 0.1% higher. Within the chip index, AMD (+4.6%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.6% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.4% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+1.3%) is displaying notable strength, while FB (-0.4%) is under pressure.

There were no earnings of note in the tech sector. In news, TESS (+1.8%) declared a one-time dividend and its CFO announced his departure to pursue new professional opportunities. EFX (+5.4%) announced it will purchase certain credit services business assets and operations of CSC (+4.3%) for $1.0 bln in cash. EFX sees the deal as accretive. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ARMH (-0.1%) was upgraded to Outperform at Exane BNP Paribas, Needham upgraded FNSR (+2.4%) to Buy, ERIC (+1.2%) was upgraded to Outperform at RBC, CSC (+4.2%) was upgraded to Outperform at Cowen and DELL (+7.4%) was upgraded to Buy at Goldman. Among downgrades, ELX (-5.5%) and QLGC (-6.3%) were downgraded to Sell at Goldman, KNXA (0.0%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at JMP, and RATE (-6.7%) and RIMM (-2.4%) were downgraded to Hold at Canaccord. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Today's session was confined to a narrow range as the S&P 500 opened near its flat line, and spent the entire day within points of the unchanged level. At midday, Bloomberg TV aired an interview with President Obama, but his remarks were in-line with recent statements. The market did not receive notable economic data and sentiment-driving headlines were limited as well. As such, the benchmark index ended the choppy day with a loss of 0.2%.

Technology stocks underperformed the broader market and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 29.04, -0.05) slipped 0.2%. Apple (AAPL 575.84, -10.34) weighed on the sector and settled lower by 1.8%.

Even though tech stocks were generally weak, semiconductor manufacturers outperformed. The PHLX Semiconductor Index gained 0.7% and bellwether Intel (INTC 19.92, +0.38) advanced 2.0%.

Elsewhere, Netflix (NFLX 82.32, +6.32) surged 8.3% after the company announced a multi-year premium pay-TV window agreement with Walt Disney (DIS 49.30, +0.01). Besides lifting Netflix to session highs, the announcement had a negative impact on Coinstar (CSTR 47.37, +0.39) and Liberty Media (LMCA 105.56, -5.49). The two names fell to their respective lows as investors considered the possibility of increased competition. Coinstar is the operator of Redbox video rental kiosks. The stock was able to shake-off the intraday weakness, and close higher by 0.8%. Meanwhile, Liberty Media, which holds a stake in Starz and Encore, recovered a portion of its losses and ended lower by 4.9%.

The consumer discretionary sector lagged as weak guidance from Darden Restaurants (DRI 47.40, -5.02) weighed on restaurant operators. Darden slumped 9.6% after issuing downside earnings guidance for the second quarter. In addition, the company lowered its full-year earnings and revenue guidance as well. Following the update, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Cowen both downgraded the stock. Among other restaurant operators, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD 72.30, -0.96), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE 32.80, -1.26), and Brinker (EAT 29.45, -0.41) all fell between 1.3% and 3.7%. Note that Brinker also lowered its second quarter guidance on October 24.

Select Chinese stocks were weaker after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against the Chinese affiliates of Big 4 accounting firms. The charges raise concern over the quality of financial statements of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks. Casino operators Asia Entertainment (AERL 3.00, -0.37) and Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL 14.18, -1.18) saw respective losses of 11.0% and 7.7% as investors were reluctant to buy Chinese ADRs.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.3%. As most components registered gains, trucking stocks underperformed. The group has encountered a soft patch recently, and the weakness continued today. JB Hunt (JBHT 58.13, -0.55) and Landstar (LSTR 49.25, -0.60) both slid near 1.0%.

The market will receive a full slate of economic news tomorrow. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index and the November ADP Employment Change will be released at 7:00 ET and 8:15 ET, respectively. In addition, revised third quarter productivity and unit labor costs will be reported at 8:30 ET. Lastly, October factory orders and November ISM Services will hit the wires at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -13.82 NASDAQ -5.51 SP500 -2.41 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1169/1.7 bln/1295 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1444/674.6 mln/1544

3:30 pm : Crude oil spent floor trade in negative territory despite a weaker dollar index. The energy component came off its session low of $87.57 per barrel set at the floor open and inched higher. However, efforts to push prices above the break-even territory were unsuccessful, leaving crude oil to settle with a 0.7% loss at $88.47 per barrel.

Natural gas also chopped around in the red. It popped to a session high of $3.61 per MMBtu in early morning action but quickly reversed the move. It closed the session 1.7% lower at $3.56 per MMBtu.

Likewise, precious metals fell deeper into negative territory despite the lower dollar index and lack of U.S. economic data. Gold pulled-back from its session high of $1704.80 per ounce and ended the session 1.5% lower at $1695.70 per ounce. Silver brushed a session low of $32.74 per ounce moments before it settled with a 2.7% loss at $32.83 per ounce.DJ30 +16.57 NASDAQ -2.60 SP500 -0.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1202/1380 mln/1233 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1480/416 mln/1497

4:38PM Photronics beats by $0.03, beats on revs (PLAB) 4.90 -0.13 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.04; revenues fell 14.7% year/year to $104.2 mln vs the $102.62 mln consensus.

Note: Co guided to $0.03-0.04 and $102-103 mln on Oct 21.

4:20PM Altera sees Q4 rev at low end of previous guidance; sees FY13 gross margin in-line (ALTR) 32.18 -0.05 : Co issues guidance for Q4 (Dec), lowers Q4 (Dec) revs to -10 to -8% QoQ to ~$445.5-455.4 mln (from -10 to -6%) vs. $455.23 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sales of the co's new products are expected to grow sequentially but that growth will be more than offset by lower sales of the company's older products. Fourth quarter results will be released after the market close on January 23, 2013.

Co sees FY13 gross margin of 69-70%, in-line.

9:30AM Intel announces sernior notes offering (INTC) 19.68 +0.14 : Co announced that it intends to offer senior unsecured notes under an automatic shelf registration statement on file with the SEC. The offering and the final terms of the notes, including principal amount, interest rate and maturity will depend on market and other conditions at the time of pricing. Intel intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and to repurchase shares of its common stock under the company's existing share repurchase authorization. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

8:33AM Celestica announces successful us$175 million substantial issuer bid (CLS) 7.28 : All the terms and conditions of the Offer have been complied with or waived and, based on a preliminary count by Computershare Investor Services, as depositary for the Offer Celestica expects to take up and pay for approximately 22,435,897 Shares at a purchase price of US$7.80 per Share.

EVault, a Seagate (STX) co, it is further expanding into the Brazilian market by partnering with the Alcateia Group, an IT solutions provider in Brazil. Alcateia was chosen to be the Brazilian distributor for the full range of EVault cloud-connected services.

8:04AM Axcelis Tech & and Lam Research (LRCX) enter strategic collaboration agreement on Ion Implant, Dry-Strip, and Etch (ACLS) 1.00 : Cos announced a strategic collaboration agreement focusing on the interrelationship between ion implantation, etch processes, and photoresist strip applications, including material modification implants and high-dose implant strip (HDIS). Separately, Axcelis decided that it will exit the dry-strip business and divest its dry-strip intellectual property and technology, including the advanced non-oxidizing process technology of its Integra product line, to Lam Research, allowing Axcelis to focus exclusively on the ion implant market. Axcelis will continue to ship its 300 mm dry-strip products through August 2013, and support the large Axcelis installed base indefinitely, including all existing parts and service contracts.

8:03AM MEMC Elec announces plan to declassify Board of Directors (WFR) 2.94 : Co announced that its board of directors has voted to include in the company's proxy statement for its 2013 annual meeting of stockholders a management proposal to eliminate the Company's classified board structure. The board will recommend that stockholders approve an amendment to the Company's certificate of incorporation to eliminate the classified structure. If approved, directors would be elected to one-year terms as their existing terms expire, beginning with the class of directors elected at the Company's 2014 annual meeting of stockholders

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that Guangdong Deli Optoelectronics has ordered multiple TurboDisc K465i Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems to support its high brightness light emitting diode manufacturing ramp.

Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI) has announced the IS31FL3731 a high performance dot matrix LED driver for intelligent displays used in mobile phones, white good appliances, toys and personal electronics.

4:03AM NXP Semi announces new refinancing; launches transaction seeking commitments for up to $500 mln in new senior secured loans (NXPI) 24.33 : Co announces it launched a transaction seeking commitments for up to $500 mln in new senior secured loans, the proceeds of which would be used to fund NXP B.V.'s currently ongoing offer to purchase up to $500 mln in cash of the U.S. dollar-denominated 9 3/4 % Senior Secured Notes due 2018 that NXP B.V. and NXP Funding LLC have outstanding. The New Loans would be drawn as additional loans under NXP's existing Senior Secured Term Loan Facility dated March 4, 2011

SunPower (SPWR) announced that systems integrator Kubokura Densetsu has signed a supply agreement for its T5 Solar Roof Tile. Kubokura will install the T5 Solar Roof Tile on four leased rooftops in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
AMD (AMD) announced its collaboration with Ubisoft to support the highly anticipated next chapter in the "Far Cry" franchise, "Far Cry 3," launching today in North America.
ASML Holding NV (ASML) announces that it has completed the Synthetic Buyback which forms part of ASML's Customer Co-Investment Program announced on 9 July 2012. With the execution of the Synthetic Buyback, ASML has made a EUR3.85 bln cash capital repayment to its shareholders

Oracle (ORCL) Board has declared an accelerated second, third and fourth quarter cash dividend totaling $0.18 per share of outstanding common stock. Oracle's CEO and largest stockholder did not participate in the deliberation or the vote on this matter. This accelerated dividend is intended by the Board to be in lieu of quarterly dividends Oracle would have otherwise announced with its quarterly earnings results for the second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2013, and that would have been paid in calendar year 2013. This accelerated dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 14, 2012, with a payment date of December 21, 2012. The next opportunity for the Board to consider and approve the declaration of a dividend will be when Oracle announces its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 which ends on August 31, 2013.

Qualcomm (QCOM) announced the expansion of its display technology agreement between its subsidiary Pixtronix and Sharp (SHCAY) to develop and commercialize high-quality color, low-power MEMS displays incorporating IGZO technology and built utilizing existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure, and Qualcomm's equity investment in Sharp Corporation. As a result of the equity investment, Qualcomm will become a minority shareholder in Sharp.

10:55 am Information Technology Sector trading slightly higher today
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength, however, with the SOX trading only 0.1% lower. Within the chip index, INTC (+1.4%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.4% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (+1.4%) is showing strength, while AAPL (-1.7%) is showing notable weakness.

In tech earnings last night, EXA (-25.1%) posted a quarterly miss and issued downside guidance. This morning, MSPD (+5.7%) raised guidance, while SYNT (-9.4%) guided below consensus. In news last night, ORCL (-0.6%) announced that it accelerated payment of three quarters of dividends. Likewise, ESIO (+8.9%) and QADA (-0.4%) announced a special dividend. Also, QCOM (-0.5%) confirmed recent reports that the co will take a stake in Sharp. In news this morning, ZNGA (+2.9%) and SYNC (+2.3%) partnered to make in-game currency and access to Zynga games available for consumers with premium pay-TV and internet subscriptions. UEPS (-55.9%) disclosed a DoJ investigation. Also, the Chinese ADR space is seeing some notable pressure this morning following SEC charges against Chinese accounting firm. BIDU (-5.4%), SINA (-7.1%), and YOKU (-5.8%) are a few names showing weakness. Among rumors, S (0.0%) is not likely to make a counter offer for PCS (-7.5%), according to reports. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, SBAC (+0.9%) was upgraded to Top Pick at RBC and PTNR (+2.9%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, DMD (-7.2%) was downgraded to Sell at Goldman, RENN (+0.9%) and CAJ (-1.2%) were downgraded at Deutsche Bank, EXA (-25.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Robert W. Baird, and SSYS (-2.9%) was downgraded to Neutral at Dougherty. P (+1.8%) is one of the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Stocks finished the session on a higher note, but gave up a large portion of their gains in the final half-hour of the session. The major averages showed notable divergence as the Dow led with a gain of 0.6% while Nasdaq lost 0.8%. The tech-heavy index lagged the broader market due to considerable weakness in shares of Apple (AAPL 538.79, -37.05), which fell 6.4% and saw their largest one-day drop in four years. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 held near its session high for the majority of the afternoon before late-day selling trimmed its gain to 0.2%.

Even though Apple lagged significantly, other large cap technology stocks saw narrower losses. Google (GOOG 687.82, -3.21) slipped 0.5% and International Business Machines (IBM 188.65, -0.71) shed 0.4%.

Elsewhere in tech, Pandora Media (P 7.80, -1.65) plunged 17.5% after reporting its earnings. Although the internet radio operator beat on earnings and revenue, the company guided fourth quarter top and bottom lines below consensus. In addition, the company said its November 2012 audience has increased 58% year-over-year.

Nokia (NOK 3.88, +0.44) surged 12.8% after the smartphone maker signed an agreement with China Mobile to sell its Widows-based Lumia 920 device.

Financials led the broader market and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 15.85, +0.19) advanced 1.2%. Citigroup (C 36.46, +2.17) rallied 6.3% after the company announced plans to reduce expenses and improve efficiency. As part of the plan, Citigroup will dismiss more than 11,000 employees. In addition, the 2012 pre-tax charges are expected to total $1 billion. Looking at other majors, Bank of America (BAC 10.46, +0.63) advanced 5.7% and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 41.20, +0.63) added 1.6%.

Last evening, the Wall Street Journal reflected on the ongoing build-up in car dealer inventories. The article also pointed to large incentives offered by automakers in order to provide relief to inventories and entice new customers. General Motors (GM 25.00, -0.41) has been a notable standout among those offering cash discounts. The company has attempted to jump-start sales by offering between $2,900 and $3,500 in incentives. Automakers and auto parts store operators underperformed today. General Motors shed 1.6% while AutoZone (AZO 360.27, -6.53) and Pep Boys (PBY 9.48, -0.09) lost near 1.5% each.

Homebuilders were broadly weaker and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 25.65, -0.64) shed 2.4%. As a result of the industry-wide weakness, major builders lost in excess of 2.0%. PulteGroup (PHM 16.20, -0.89) and Lennar (LEN 36.42, -1.36) saw respective losses of 5.2% and 3.6%. In addition to individual builders, home improvement stocks also underperformed. Whirlpool (WHR 98.62, -1.80) settled lower by 1.8% and Leggett & Platt (LEG 27.17, -0.68) slid 2.4%.

In M&A news, Freeport McMoRan (FCX 32.16, -6.12) slumped 16.0% after the company confirmed it will acquire Plains Exploration & Production (PXP 44.50, +8.45) and McMoRan Exploration (MMR 15.82, +7.36) in transactions totaling $20 billion.

Looking at today's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index pointed to a 4.5% rise in new mortgage applications during the past week. Today's reading followed prior week's decline of 0.9%.

According to today's ADP National Employment Report, employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose by 118K in November. This was above the 125K increase expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

Productivity data for the third quarter showed an increase of 2.9%, which was better than the 1.9% increase that had been reported in the preliminary reading. It was also better than the 2.7% increase that had been broadly expected. Unit labor costs for the third quarter were revised lower to reflect a 1.9% decrease after they had reportedly slipped 0.1% in the preliminary reading. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that unit labor costs would tick down in the revised reading to reflect a decrease of 0.8%.

October factory orders showed an increase of 0.8%, which was better than the Briefing.com consensus of a 0.1% decrease. Today's reading follows last month's 4.8% increase.

The November ISM Services Index was reported at 54.7, which is ahead of the 53.7 forecast by the Briefing.com consensus, and down from October's reading of 54.2.

Tomorrow's economic data will focus on jobs as November Challenger Job Cuts will be reported at 7:30 ET while weekly initial and continuing claims will be announced at 8:30 ET.

In addition, the Bank of England and European Central Bank will both announce rate decisions.DJ30 +82.71 NASDAQ -22.99 SP500 +2.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1058/1.74 bln/1381 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1573/759.4 mln/1426

3:30 pm : Crude oil extended yesterday's losses as a stronger dollar index put pressure on prices. The energy component dropped from its pit session high of $88.57 per barrel to a session low of $87.46 per barrel despite bullish inventory data that showed a draw of 2.357 mln barrels when a draw of 0.3 mln barrels was anticipated. The dip left crude oil to settle with a 0.7% loss at $87.87 per barrel.

Natural gas, on the other hand, trended higher during its floor session. It lifted off its session low of $3.61 per MMBtu set in morning action and climbed as high as $3.74 per MMBtu. Although it pulled-back slightly as it headed into the close, natural gas booked a 4.5% gain as it settled at $3.72 per MMBtu.

Gold began today's pit trade in positive territory but fell into the red shortly after equity markets opened. The yellow metal slid off its session high of $1702.70 per ounce and brushed a session low of $1686.00 per ounce. It then inched higher in late morning action and erased most of the loss as it settled 0.1% lower at $1694.10 per ounce. Silver pulled-back from its session high of $33.07 per ounce and dipped as low as $32.58 per ounce. However, it regained momentum as it climbed back into positive territory and closed 0.3% higher at $32.94 per ounce.DJ30 +115.17 NASDAQ -12.42 SP500 +6.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1145/1476.7 mln/1293 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1653/525 mln/1352

4:32PM Celestica announces appointment of new CFO (CLS) 7.62 +0.21 : Co announced that Darren Myers has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Myers is succeeding Paul Nicoletti, who will be leaving the company effective December 28 to pursue other interests. Mr. Myers has over ten years of experience with Celestica and has held numerous financial roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller with responsibilities including external reporting, corporate tax, investor relations and all corporate finance and treasury-related matters.

4:07PM Emulex announces intent to acquire Endace in a cash offer for 500 pence per share; reaffirms Q2 guidance (ELX) 7.02 +0.01 : Co expects to provide more detailed pro-forma guidance upon the closing of the acquisition. Co also affirmed guidance for its second fiscal quarter ending December 30, 2012 that was previously issued and detailed in a press release on October 25, 2012.

4:07PM Sigma Designs misses by $0.10, beats on revs (SIGM) 5.64 -0.16 : Reports Q3 (Oct) loss of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.17); revenues rose 61.0% year/year to $63.9 mln vs the $62.64 mln consensus.

4:06PM Broadcom raises revs guidance; narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or ~$2.00 to $2.10 billion vs $2.05 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estconsensus, up from $1.95-2.10 bln (BRCM) 32.34 -0.11 : The following estimates are based on the current business outlook:

Net Revenue: Narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or ~$2.00 to $2.10 billion, due to slightly better-than-expected revenue in our Mobile & Wireless business.
Product Gross Margin (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to up slightly from Q3'12.
R&D Plus SG&A Expenses (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to down ~$5-15 million from Q3'12, due to lower-than-expected headcount costs primarily driven by reduced incentive compensation, as well as tighter management of expenses and services.

4:02PM Finisar beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (FNSR) 13.35 -0.24 : Reports Q2 (Oct) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.14; revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $232 mln vs the $231.83 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.14-0.18, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.17 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $230-245 mln vs. $239.70 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

8:32AM NetApp announces offering of senior notes (NTAP) 32.05 : Co announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, senior unsecured notes under an effective shelf registration statement on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering and the final terms of the senior notes, including principal amount, interest rate and maturity will depend on market and other conditions at the time of pricing.

NetApp intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of certain indebtedness, capital expenditures, possible stock repurchases, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as joint book-running managers.

Atmel (ATML) and UL announced that Atmel has achieved certification for the UL 60730-1, a standard for automatic electrical controls for household and similar use, for the AT42QT1244/5 and AT42QT1481 capacitive touch controllers.

SunPower (SPWR) announced that it will supply Toshiba with its new world-record efficiency solar panel beginning in December, extending Toshiba's solar efficiency leadership in the Japanese residential market.

HP (HPQ) extends its business tablet portfolio with the announcement of its next-generation convertible tablet, the HP EliteBook Revolve -- a touch-enabled notebook that pivots to let users share their work and folds to go mobile as a tablet.

1:42AM Nokia partners with China Mobile (CHL) to launch the Lumia 920T, the first TD-SCDMA Windows phone (NOK) 3.44 : Nokia and China Mobile (CHL) announced the Lumia 920T, the first TD-SCDMA Windows Phone in China. The Lumia 920T will be available for order by the end of the year. It will retail at RMB4599 without contract and come in four colours; black, white, yellow and red.

1:05AM Intel prices $6.0 bln of Senior Notes offering (INTC) 19.97 : Of these notes, $3.0 bln will mature on Dec. 15, 2017 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 1.35%, $1.5 bln will mature on Dec. 15, 2022 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 2.70%, $750 mln will mature on Dec. 15, 2032 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 4.0%, and $750 mln will mature on Dec. 15, 2042 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 4.25%. Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and to repurchase shares of its common stock under the co's existing share repurchase authorization.

Photronics (PLAB) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.04, while revenues fell 14.7% year/year to $104.2 mln vs the $102.62 million consensus.

11:34 am S&P Information Technology sector trading lower by 1.3%
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are trading ahead of the rest of the tech space with the SOX trading only 0.8% lower. Within the chip index, ALTR (-3.9%) and SPRD (-3.9%) are showing weakness, while STM (+2.9%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% lower today, while the QQQ is down 1.2% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.9% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (-3.9%) is under notable pressure, while CSCO (+0.7%) is bucking the trend.

In tech earnings last night, P (-17.4%) posted a quarterly beat, but issued downside guidance. Also, ALTR (-3.6%) and TIBX (-22.2%) guided below consensus. TYPE (+0.5%), on the other hand, raised guidance. In news, FB (+0.4%) will become a component of the NASDAQ-100 Index. CGNX (+0.3%) and IDCC (+1.0%) were the latest to announce a special dividend. Also, COR Clearing is raising margin requirements on AAPL (-3.9%), according to reports.

In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, PAY (+4.4%) was upgraded to Buy at UBS. Among downgrades, ADTN (-4.9%) was downgraded to Sell at Citigroup, NVDA (-2.4%) was downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer, and INTC (-0.9%) was downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James. SAI (+0.8%) and SNPS (-0.9%) are two notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Today's session opened with initial uncertainty before the major averages staged a climb to their respective highs. Overseas, Standard & Poor's lowered Greece's long term credit rating to ‘Select Default' from ‘CCC.' Meanwhile, Germany's DAX closed at its highest level in nearly five years. Domestically, trade was confined to a narrow range, but late-day buying lifted the S&P 500 to a slim gain of 0.3%.

The technology sector was the top performer, and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 28.91, +0.16) advanced 0.6%. Apple (AAPL 547.24, +8.45) was down as much as 3.0% in early trade, but after marking its session low at $518.63, the stock reversed and finished higher by 1.6%.

Elsewhere, Akamai Technologies (AKAM 39.06, +3.56) surged 10.0% after the company announced a global strategic alliance with AT&T (T 33.65, -0.26). The newly forged partnership will allow Akamai to deploy CDN servers on the AT&T network in order to improve content routing and its delivery.

Remaining in the sector, major hard drive makers enjoyed their third strong session in a row. Seagate (STX 28.53, +0.93) and Western Digital (WDC 37.10, +1.07) both added near 3.0%.

Financials registered slim gains and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 15.90, +0.05) tacked on 0.3%. Citigroup (C 37.02, +0.56) was the top performer among the majors. The stock settled higher by 0.9% to extend yesterday's 6.3% rally sparked by the announcement of plans to dismiss more than 11,000 employees.

Looking at European financials, Deutsche Bank (DB 45.49, -0.58) slid 1.3% after reports from Reuters indicated the bank may have hid up to $12 billion in losses in order to avoid having to accept a government bailout.

Also of note, HSBC Holdings (HBC 51.75, -0.12) shed 0.2% after Reuters reported the company may be facing a $1.8 billion money-laundering fine. The industrial sector was the weakest performer and manufacturers of building products weighed. Lennox International (LII 51.07, -0.49) and Masco (MAS 15.78, -0.43) fell 1.0% and 2.7%, respectively.

Elsewhere, UTi Worldwide (UTIW 12.88, -1.15) slid 8.2% after reporting disappointing earnings. During the third quarter, the supply chain manager earned $0.16, which was $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ consensus estimate. Meanwhile, its revenue of $1.13 billion also missed expectations. When commenting on its past performance and the future outlook, company management said, "Macroeconomic and freight conditions remained weak throughout our fiscal 2013 third quarter, and we see no real catalysts to drive increases in the foreseeable future."

The Dow Jones Transportation Average underperformed and shed 0.1%. Most transportation stocks were on the decline and CH Robinson (CHRW 60.64, -1.27) was the biggest laggard. The freight carrier finished lower by 2.1% and other truckers registered losses as well.

With crude oil settling lower by 1.7%, airlines outperformed. Delta Air Lines (DAL 10.02, +0.31) gained 3.2% and was the best performing carrier. Earlier, the company has finalized its agreement with Bombardier Aerospace, which will allow Delta to continue renovating its domestic fleet by replacing its least efficient jets.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 370,000, which is lower than the 382,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The tally is below the revised prior week count of 395,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to 3.205 million from 3.305 million.

November Challenger Job Cuts rose by 34.4% year-over-year after the prior month's reading pointed to an 11.6% increase.

In tomorrow's economic data, November nonfarm payrolls, nonfarm private payrolls, unemployment rate, hourly earnings, and average workweek will all be released at 8:30 ET. In addition, December Michigan Sentiment and October consumer credit will be reported at 9:55 ET and 15:00 ET, respectively.DJ30 +39.55 NASDAQ +15.57 SP500 +4.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1223/1.66 bln/1234 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1586/617.1 mln/1434

3:30 pm : Crude oil fell deeper into negative territory on pressure from a stronger dollar index following the European Central Bank's reduction of Eurozone growth estimates. Crude retreated from its session high of $87.09 per barrel and closed pit trade with a 1.8% loss at $86.26 per barrel.

Natural gas popped to a session high of $3.75 per MMBtu on strong inventory data that showed a draw of 73 bcf when a draw of 70 bcf was anticipated. The move was short-lived, however, and prices plunged back into negative territory to a session low of $3.61 per MMBtu. Natural gas eventually settled with a 1.6% loss at $3.66 per MMBtu.

Gold traded back above the $1700.00 per ounce level on ECB's lowered growth forecasts. The yellow metal lifted off its pit session low of $1687.10 per ounce and traded up to a session high of $1704.80 per ounce. It spent afternoon trade chopping around in a tight range just below that level and settled with a 0.4% gain at $1701.50 per ounce. Silver also popped into positive territory after trading as low as $32.60 per ounce in morning action. It pulled back off its session high of $33.33 per ounce and settled at $33.13 per ounce, or 0.6% higher.DJ30 +18.16 NASDAQ +8.94 SP500 +2.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1094/1380.9 mln/1357 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1396/421 mln/1597

5:30PM Linear Tech increases quarterly dividend by 4% to $0.26 from $0.25 per share, accelerates payment (LLTC) 33.51 +0.34 : Co's Board of Directors of Linear Technology Corporation approved an increase in the Company's quarterly dividend from $0.25 per share to $0.26 per share. In addition, the Board approved accelerating the payment of the current quarter's dividend into December from its historical February timeframe to benefit shareholders. Consequently, this quarter's dividend will be paid on December 28, 2012 to stockholders of record on December 17, 2012.

5:27PM Cohu announces acceleration of quarterly dividend payment (COHU) 9.08 -0.12 : Co announced that its Board of Directors authorized a change in the payment date of the company's previously announced regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share to December 28, 2012 from January 2, 2013. The record date of the quarterly dividend remains unchanged at November 23, 2012.

4:26PM AMD amends wafer supply agreement with GLOBALFOUNDRIES; co lowered its wafer purchase commitments for Q4, AMD will make a termination payment of $320 mln, As a result of the amendment, AMD expects to return to free cash flow generation in the second half of 2013 (AMD) 2.34 +0.05 : Co announced that it successfully amended its Wafer Supply Agreement (WSA) with GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.

The closure of amendment negotiations solidifies AMD's new operating model as communicated at the third quarter 2012 earnings announcement. To better align with today's PC market dynamics, AMD and GLOBALFOUNDRIES agreed on purchase commitments for Q4 2012 and established fixed pricing and other terms of the WSA which apply to products AMD will purchase from GLOBALFOUNDRIES through Dec. 31, 2013. "We are committed to develop and grow our business with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, increasing our engagement across our industry leading APU and graphics roadmaps. The newly amended agreement is another step we are taking to further strengthen our relationship with GLOBALFOUNDRIES as well as AMD's financial foundation."

Announcement details:

AMD lowered its wafer purchase commitments for Q4 2012.
AMD currently estimates that it will purchase wafers from GLOBALFOUNDRIES for ~$115 mln in the fourth quarter 2012 and $1.15 billion in fiscal 2013. AMD has also committed to purchase wafers from GLOBALFOUNDRIES for ~$250 mln during first quarter 2014.
AMD expects to negotiate the remainder of its 2014 purchase commitments from GLOBALFOUNDRIES in 2013.
AMD will make a termination payment of $320 mln related to the take-or-pay agreement with GLOBALFOUNDRIES associated with the adjusted wafer purchase commitments in fourth quarter 2012. The cash impact of the termination fee will spread over several quarters: $80 mln by Dec. 28, 2012; $40 mln by Apr. 1, 2013; and A $200 mln promissory note issued by AMD to GLOBALFOUNDRIES due on Dec. 31, 2013. The termination fee will result in a net one-time charge of ~$165 mln recorded in Q$ 2012. Separately, as AMD moves to standard 28nm process technology, AMD will reduce future reimbursements to GLOBALFOUNDRIES for certain research and development costs. As a result of the amendment, AMD expects to return to free cash flow generation in the second half of 2013.

4:16PM TranSwitch receives Nasdaq minimum bid price non-compliance letter (TXCC) 0.77 -0.00 : Co announced that it received a letter on December 4, 2012, from the Nasdaq Capital Market indicating that the Company no longer meets the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550. The notice stated that the bid price of the Company's common stock has closed below the required minimum $1.00 per share for the previous 30 consecutive business days.

4:01PM Vitesse Semi announces proposed public offering of common stock; size not disclosed (VTSS) 2.09 -0.07 : Needham & Company, LLC is acting as the sole bookrunning manager of the offering. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC is acting as co-manager. Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. A portion of the net proceeds also may be used to repay or restructure indebtedness.

9:44AM Semiconductor Hldrs ETF rung to new early session high led by INTC (SMH) 30.18 +0.22 : Noted relative strength in INTC +1.7% in the 09:33 update with the new high of 32.27 in the SMH leaving it near this week's high, the Nov close high and a trendline off the March - Aug peaks in the 32.30/32.32 area. Its Nov intraday high comes into play at 32.43 with its 200 sma at 32.56 -- ADI +0.6%, ALTR +0.7%, AMD +1.3%, ATML +1.6%, BRCM +2%, KLAC +0.8%, SNDK +0.8%.

9:33AM Intel displays some opening relative strength, sets new highs for the week (INTC) 20.03 +0.18 : Firmer early tone edges to new weekly high of 20.10. Its declining 20 day ema and the top of its roughly two week trading range and the Nov bounce high are at 20.16/20.19.

GEO Semiconductor has entered into an agreement to acquire the digital video processing business from Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM). The transaction is expected to close prior to Dec 31, 2012. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Cisco (CSCO) announced its new portfolio of small and midsize business solutions to over 300 channel partners at the Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China Partner-Led Network Event.

Research In Motion (RIMM) announced the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. The program is designed to address the needs of BlackBerry enterprise customers as they prepare their environments for the launch of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Atheros introduced a new ultra-low power near field communication solution that will enable mobile devices with contactless communications and data exchange, including next-generation mobile payments.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) reported third quarter loss of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.17), while revenues rose 61.0% year/year to $63.9 million versus the $62.64 mln consensus.

Finisar (FNSR) reported second quarter earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.14, while revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $232 million versus the $231.83 mln consensus. The company issued in-line guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.14-0.18, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.17 consensus and revenues of $230-245 million versus the $239.70 million consensus.

Broadcom (BRCM) raised revenue guidance; narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or approximately $2.00 to $2.10 billion vs $2.05 billion consensus, up from $1.95-2.10 billion. Net Revenue: Narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or ~$2.00 to $2.10 billion, due to slightly better-than-expected revenue in our Mobile & Wireless business. Product Gross Margin (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to up slightly from Q3'12. R&D Plus SG&A Expenses (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to down ~$5-15 million from Q3'12, due to lower-than-expected headcount costs primarily driven by reduced incentive compensation, as well as tighter management of expenses and services.

SAIC (SAI) reported third quarter earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.35, while revenues rose 2.9% year/year to $2.87 billion versus the $2.85 bln consensus. The company raised EPS guidance for fiscal year 2013 with EPS of $1.49-1.54 versus the $1.34 consensus, up from $1.26-1.36; sees FY13 revs of $10.9-11.4 billion versus the $11.16 billion consensus. "Our outlook continues to be cautious as the government approaches critical fiscal decisions. Under any scenario, we expect government spending to be constrained, especially in the defense market, and we are preparing for the budget pressures. For the long term, our plan to separate SAIC into two highly competitive and differentiated companies is well underway and generating great excitement in the Company. In the near term, we are taking action to reduce our cost structure in response to an increasingly competitive environment. This reduction will impact ~700 employees, largely as a result of a restructuring focused on indirect costs. While these decisions are painful, they are necessary to meet competitive demands, customer cost expectations and effectiveness, and to deliver financial performance for our shareholders."

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KLIC Short Sale 2500 shares@11.70 - I think KLIC could move above 12 again before falling so I am waiting on the other 2500 shares I expect to short:

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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 07-Dec-12

Dow +81.09 at 13155.13, Nasdaq -11.23 at 2978.04, S&P +4.13 at 1418.07

Equities started the day in the black following the release of November nonfarm payrolls, which revealed an addition of 146,000 jobs. However, the optimism was short-lived and stocks surrendered their early gains after the preliminary reading of the December Michigan Sentiment fell short of estimates. The remainder of the session was relatively quiet as the S&P 500 traded near its unchanged line, the Nasdaq hovered near its lows, while the Dow spent the day climbing back to its highs. As a result, the benchmark S&P 500 index finished higher by 0.3%.

This morning, House Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi both spoke before the media in Washington, but their message remained the same. During his remarks, Speaker Boehner said that no progress has been made in negotiations and the White House "has wasted another week." Meanwhile, Representative Pelosi reiterated that Democrats stand ready to extend Bush-era tax cuts for all but top 2% of earners.

Financials have outperformed after Wednesday's announcement from Citigroup (C 37.64, +0.62) indicated the company will dismiss more than 11,000 employees. Citigroup advanced 1.7% today and most majors saw comparable gains. However, Goldman Sachs (GS 116.57, -0.63) and Wells Fargo(WFC 33.23, +0.09) missed out on the sector-wide rally. Earlier, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Goldman Sachs to pay a $1.5 million civil monetary penalty to settle charges stemming from failure to diligently supervise its employees in late 2007.

Although domestic financials advanced, their European counterparts were relatively weaker. Spain's Banco Santander (SAN 7.59, -0.05) and Germany's Deutsche Bank (DB 44.82, -0.67) settled lower by 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

The tech sector was the biggest laggard and Apple (AAPL 533.25, -13.99) continued its weakness. The largest tech component lost 2.6% during today's session, and is down nearly 10.0% since Monday.

Elsewhere in technology, networking stocks were generally lower and Cisco Systems (CSCO 19.33, -0.14) shed 0.7%. Earlier, the company held its Analyst Day where Chief Executive Officer said Cisco has "gone too long" without making an acquisition.

Major hard drive manufacturers have enjoyed a strong week. Since Monday, Seagate (STX 28.34, -0.19) has added over 12.0% while Western Digital (WDC 37.60, +0.50) has rallied more than 11.0%. Today, the two headed in opposite directions. Seagate slipped 0.7% while Western Digital gained 1.4%.

In notable analyst action, 3D Systems (DDD 45.61, +1.07) advanced 2.4% after BB&T Capital Markets initiated coverage with a ‘Buy' rating and a $60 price target.

The GEO Group (GEO 32.00, +2.56) was the second-best S&P 500 component. The correctional facility operator surged 8.7% after the company authorized a special dividend of $350 million, and announced it has taken critical steps towards its planned conversion to a Real Estate Investment Trust. As a REIT, the company is expected to generate between $215 and $225 million in 2013 funds from operations. Peer Corrections Corporation of America (CXW 35.48, +1.37) gained 4.0%.

Last evening, Smith & Wesson (SWHC 9.92, -0.93) reported earnings in-line with the November preannouncement. The company's strong quarter was punctuated by upside third quarter and full-year earnings and revenue guidance. In addition, the Board of Directors has approved a $20 billion share repurchase program which is scheduled to run through June 30, 2013. The stock was up as much as 3.0% in pre-market trade, but settled lower by 8.6% Meanwhile, peer Sturm, Ruger (RGR 51.44, -2.00) lost 3.7%.

Nonfarm payrolls came in at 146K versus the 90K expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The prior reading was revised down to 138K from 171K. Nonfarm private payrolls added 147K against the 120K consensus. The unemployment rate was reported at 7.7%, ahead of the Briefing.com consensus which called for the figure to come in at 8.0%.

Hourly earnings rose by 0.2% while the expectations called for an uptick of 0.1%. Lastly, average workweek was reported at 34.4, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus.

The preliminary University of Michigan Survey for December came in at 74.5, which is lower than the 82.7 that was posted in the prior month, and worse than the reading of 82.4 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

According to the Federal Reserve, consumer credit increased by $14.2 billion in October. This follows prior month's reading of a $11.4 billion increase, and is higher than the $9.9 billion that had been broadly expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Week in Review: Stocks Drift as Fiscal Cliff Looms

Monday's session began on a positive note as upbeat European trade contributed to the bullish sentiment. However, the strength was temporary and the S&P 500 turned lower once the November ISM Index of 49.5 missed expectations. After sliding to its lows shortly after midday, the S&P 500 remained in the red and settled lower by 0.5%. The materials sector was the biggest laggard as chemical producers saw broad weakness. In addition, utility and industrial stocks underperformed as well.

Tuesday's trade was confined to a narrow range as the S&P 500 opened near its flat line, and spent the entire day within points of the unchanged level. At midday, Bloomberg TV aired an interview with President Obama, but his remarks were in-line with recent statements. The market did not receive notable economic data and sentiment-driving headlines were limited as well. As such, the benchmark index ended the choppy day with a loss of 0.2%. Netflix (NFLX 85.98, -0.19) surged 8.3% after the company announced a multi-year premium pay-TV window agreement with Walt Disney (DIS 49.24, +0.18).

On Wednesday, stocks finished the session on a higher note, but gave up a large portion of their gains in the final half-hour. The major averages showed notable divergence as the Dow led with a gain of 0.6% while Nasdaq lost 0.8%. The tech-heavy index lagged the broader market due to considerable weakness in shares of Apple (AAPL 533.25, -13.99), which fell 6.4% and saw their largest one-day drop in four years. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 held near its session high for the majority of the afternoon before late-day selling trimmed its gain to 0.2%.

Thursday opened with initial uncertainty before the major averages staged a climb to their respective highs. Overseas, Standard & Poor's lowered Greece's long term credit rating to ‘Select Default' from ‘CCC.' Meanwhile, Germany's DAX closed at its highest level in nearly five years. Domestically, trade was confined to a narrow range, but late-day buying lifted the S&P 500 to a slim gain of 0.3%.Deutsche Bank (DB 44.82, -0.67) slid 1.3% after reports from Reuters indicated the bank may have hid up to $12 billion in losses in order to avoid having to accept a government bailout.

 
 Index	    Started Week  Ended Week  Change  %Change  YTD % 
 DJIA	      13025.58	   13155.13   129.55	1.0    7.7 
 Nasdaq	       3010.24	    2978.04   -32.20   -1.1   14.3 
 S&P 500	1416.18	    1418.07     1.89	0.1   12.8 
 Russell 2000	821.92	     822.27	0.35	0.0   11.0

4:01PM Micrel declares 2012 fourth quarter cash dividend early (MCRL) 9.35 -0.13 : Co announced that the Company's Board of Directors has authorized an accelerated quarterly cash dividend of $0.0425 per share of common stock. This accelerated dividend is intended by the Board to be in lieu of the quarterly dividend Micrel would have otherwise announced with its quarterly financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012.

9:02AM Vitesse Semi priced an underwritten public offering of 10 mln shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $1.75/share (VTSS) 2.07 :

1:28AM TTM Tech appoints Thomas Edman as President (TTMI) 9.08 : Co announces that Thomas Edman has been appointed as President of co effective January 7, 2013. Most recently he served as Group Vice President and General Manager of the AKT Display Group at Applied Materials (AMAT). Edman has served as a director of TTM since September 2004.

Needham initiated MicroChip (MCHP) with a Buy and price target of $37. The firm's positive stance is based on the following: Strong play off a likely cyclical rebound in semis. By studying MCHP's stock price vs. the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) over the last three years, they found some interesting patterns: while MCHP tends to underperform the SOX during a significant rally, the stock has actually outperformed the SOX when the index declines by an average of 400bps, representing a relatively safe haven for investors. They recommend investors own MCHP as the semiconductor industry should enter a mild cyclical rebound starting in C2H13. They believe MCHP's recent acquisition of Standard Microsystems (SMSC) will prove to be another jewel in its crown.

10:54 am S&P Tech Sector trading lower today and behind the overall market
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing modest gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength, however, with the SOX trading 0.2% higher. Within the chip index, BRCM (+2.2%) is a leader. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.04% higher today, while the QQQ is down 0.5% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.4% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+1.0%) is a standout, while AAPL (-1.5%) is showing notable weakness.

In tech earnings last night, PANW (-6.4%) posted a slight Q1 beat with guidance modestly above consensus. Elsewhere, CMTL (-8.8%) reported a mixed qtr and lowered guidance. This morning at its analyst conf, CSCO (+0.1%) said they have an opportunity to grow top line revenue at 5-7%, inline with consensus. In news, AMD (-0.9%) amended its wafer supply agreement with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and it lowered its wafer purchase commitments for Q4. AVGO (-1.9^) announced the sales of ~21.5 mln shares from selling stockholders. LLTC (+0.2%) marginally increased its dividend. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, DST (+0.7%) was upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee and TSM (+0.7^) was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. Among downgrades, DRWI (+2.8%) was downgraded to Hold at Canaccord.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Today's session was relatively quiet as the major averages followed an upbeat open with a climb to their respective highs. At noon, House Speaker John Boehner said he remains hopeful a budget deal will be reached, but first, Democrats and the President need to outline specific spending cuts. The comments had little effect on the markets as equities saw muted reaction, and continued holding at their best levels. However, 90 minutes before the close, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats do not plan to propose spending cuts, and that reaching a consensus before Christmas would be difficult. In response to Senator Reid's comments, the S&P 500 slipped from its highs, trimming its gain to 0.7%.

The technology sector was the top performer and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 29.23, +0.39) finished higher by 1.4%. The largest tech component, Apple (AAPL 541.38, +11.56), rose by 2.2% in an attempt to halt its slide and establish support in the $550 area.

Texas Instruments (TXN 31.01, +1.19) advanced 4.0% despite narrowing its revenue guidance and trimming its earnings guidance to account for restructuring.

TripAdvisor (TRIP 40.91, +2.52) spiked 6.6% after Liberty Interactive (LINTA 18.95, -0.19) purchased 4.8 million TRIP shares for $62.50 per share. As a result of the transaction, Liberty Interactive will control a majority voting stake in TripAdvisor. Other online travel sites also gained on the news. Expedia (EXPE 59.99, +2.28) rose by 4.0% and Orbitz Worldwide (OWW 2.38, +0.06) added 2.6%.

The health care space was one of the top gainers and biotech companies contributed to the sector strength. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX 41.84, +1.59) and Gilead Sciences (GILD 76.34, +2.09) led biotech names and saw respective gains of 4.0% and 2.8%.

In acquisition news, Somaxon Pharmaceuticals (SOMX 2.65, +1.18) surged 80.3% after announcing it will be acquired by Pernix Therapeutics (PTX 7.65, -0.28). Per the agreement, Somaxon shareholders will receive $25 million in Pernix common stock.

Elsewhere, Hill-Rom Holdings (HRC 28.69, +0.62) advanced 2.2% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to ‘Buy' from ‘Neutral.'

Financials traded largely in-line with the broader market until late afternoon comments from Senator Harry Reid indicated an agreement before Christmas is unlikely. Morgan Stanley (MS 17.75, +0.74) settled higher by 4.4% to lead the majors. Earlier reports indicated the company may file for regulatory approval in order to begin a share buyback program. Looking at other majors, Goldman Sachs (GS 118.86, +1.85) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 42.64, +0.33) gained 1.6% and 0.8%, respectively.

Elsewhere, American International Group (AIG 35.26, +1.90) rallied 5.7% after confirming the U.S. Treasury will sell its remaining shares of AIG common stock.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.1% and airlines outperformed. Delta Air Lines (DAL 10.66, +0.52) was the top advancer within the bellwether complex. The air carrier gained 5.1% after confirming plans to invest $360 million in Virgin Atlantic. Following the investment, Delta will hold a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic. Looking at other airlines, United Continental (UAL 21.71, +0.82) and Southwest Airlines (LUV 10.12, +0.28) finished higher by 3.9% and 2.9%, respectively.

In notable quarterly results, Dollar General (DG 42.94, -3.63) reported earnings of $0.63 on revenue of $3.96 billion. The company's bottom line was $0.03 ahead of the Capital IQ consensus, while its revenue met expectations. In addition to reporting an earnings beat, the retailer raised its full-year 2013 earnings guidance in-line with analyst estimates. However, its full-year 2013 revenue is expected to be near the low end of the previous range. Dollar General slid 7.8% in reaction to the results and peers Dollar Tree (DLTR 37.98, -1.46) and Family Dollar (FDO 64.68, -5.90) lost 3.7% and 8.4%, respectively.

The trade deficit widened to $42.2 billion during October after a downwardly revised prior month deficit of $40.3 billion. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the deficit would come in at $42.8 billion.

October wholesale inventories increased by 0.6%, which was ahead of the 0.4% increase forecast by the Briefing.com consensus.

Looking at tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET. Export prices ex-agriculture and import prices ex-oil will both be announced at 8:30 ET. At 12:30 ET, the Federal Open Market Committee will announce the Federal Funds Rate, and the statement will be followed by Ben Bernanke's press conference at 14:15 ET. Lastly, the U.S. Treasury will report its November budget at 14:00 ET.

The U.S. Treasury will hold a $21 billion 10-yr reopening.DJ30 +78.56 NASDAQ +35.34 SP500 +9.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1767/1.81 bln/715 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2052/693.3 mln/975

3:30 pm : Crude oil retreated from its session high of $85.95 per barrel and inched lower as reports indicated that OPEC was leaving 2013 demand forecasts for its own crude unchanged at 29.7 mln bpd and sees average demand in first half of 29.25 mln bpd. It fell below the breakeven level and to a session low of $85.21 per barrel in afternoon action. However, a rally heading into the close pushed prices back into positive territory and the energy component settled 0.2% higher at $85.76 per barrel.

Natural gas tumbled into negative territory and brushed a session low of $3.39 per MMBtu in late morning action. It then popped back into the black but the move was short lived as prices fell back into the red where they settled at $3.41 per MMBtu, or 1.4% lower.

Gold pulled-back from its pit session high of $1715.40 per ounce and fell into negative territory despite a weaker dollar index. The yellow metal dipped as low as $1706.00 per ounce and struggled near that level for the remainder of pit trade. It settled the session 0.3% lower at $1709.50 per ounce as investors await tomorrow's FOMC policy announcement that is expected to introduce QE4. Silver traded in the same fashion as it slid to a session low of $32.83 per ounce and eventually settled with a 1.1% loss at $32.99 per ounce.DJ30 +62.01 NASDAQ +28.54 SP500 +6.82 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1583/1.46 bln/890 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1826/443.8 mln/1162

7:38AM Monolithic Power announces a $1.00 per share special cash dividend (MPWR) 21.08 : The special dividend is payable on Dec 28, 2012 to stockholders of record on Dec 21, 2012.

Cypress Semiconductor (CY) introduced the fully-qualified PSoC? 5LP programmable system-on-chip family. The new devices provide unmatched high-performance programmable analog, the best ADCs

Analog Devices (ADI) introduced the AD9106 quad-channel, 12-bit, and the AD9102 single-channel, 14-bit, 180-MSPS waveform generators, integrating on-chip static random access memory and direct digital synthesis for complex waveform generation.
STMicroelectronics (STM) announced another step towards the availability of its 28nm FD-SOI Technology Platform, now open for pre-production from its Crolles 300mm manufacturing facility.

Texas Instruments (TXN) narrowed its expected ranges for revenue and earnings per share (EPS). The company currently expects its financial results to be within the following ranges: Revenue: $2.89-3.01 billion compared with the prior range of $2.83 -- 3.07 billion. EPS: $0.05-0.09 compared with the prior range of $0.23-0.31. EPS now includes $0.21 of charges associated with previously announced restructuring (Nov 14) in the company's Wireless segment. EPS includes $0.21 in previously announced wireless restructuring charges and is not comparable to the Capital IQ consensus of $0.33.

10:54 am S&P Information Technology trading higher today by 1.6%
The tech sector is trading higher today, ahead of gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 1.7% higher. Within the chip index, NXPI (+5.4%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.8% higher today, while the QQQ is up 1.5% and the NASDAQ is trading 1.2% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, TXN (+2.9%) and AAPL (+2.7%) is showing notable strength. In tech earnings last night, TXN (+2.9%) narrowed its guidance range within consensus for the company's mid qtr update. Also, NATI (+1.6%) tightened guidance for Q4. In news, TNS (+43.1%) announced it will be acquired by an affiliate of Siris Capital Group for $21.00 per share. TDC (+4.2%), UIS (+4.0%), and LPSN (+3.7%) all announced stock repurchase plans. Also, it was reported that CHU (-0.4%) sold 300K AAPL (+2.7%) iPhone pre orders in China. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, LFUS (+1.4%) was upgraded to Buy at Sidoti. Also, underwriters at RKUS (-5.5%) initiated coverage (Morgan Stanley with Overweight, Opco with Outperform, Goldman with Neutral, etc.). Among notable downgrades, ARW (-1.2%) was downgraded to Underperform at Credit Agricole. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities began the day on a slightly higher note in anticipation of the latest policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The major averages spiked to session highs upon the release of the central bank's directive. However, stocks surrendered all of their gains, and the S&P 500 finished flat.

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee held its Federal Funds Rate steady at 0-0.25%. In addition, the Fed announced ‘Operation Twist' will be replaced by a Treasury purchasing program with an initial rate of $45 billion per month. Also of note, the key interest rate is expected to remain at exceptionally low levels until a target unemployment rate of 6.5% is reached.

In addition, the central bank has released its December projections. The outlook painted a cautious picture as the high end of its 2012 GDP growth forecast was lowered to 1.8% from 2.0%. Further, the low end of its 2013 growth expectations was reduced to 2.3% from 2.5%. Inflation expectations remain anchored and PCE inflation is not expected to exceed 2.0% over the next three years. Regarding unemployment, the Federal Reserve projects the rate to decline to 6.5% in 2015.

Following the news from the Fed, Ben Bernanke spoke in front of the media. During his press conference, the Chairman said asset purchases are expected to continue until a substantial improvement in the economy is observed. He also noted that if the effectiveness of the purchasing program declines, appropriate modifications will be made.

Gold miners have enjoyed a strong start to the session ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement. Following the central bank's announcement, mining shares firmed while gold saw little change. AngloGold (AU 30.92, +0.71) and Royal Gold (RGLD 83.64, +2.22) finished higher by 2.4% and 2.7%, respectively.

Among technology stocks, Apple (AAPL 539.00, -2.39) finished lower by 0.4%. Elsewhere in the space, Coinstar (CSTR 51.96, +1.15) advanced 2.3% after Northland upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform' from ‘Market Perform' with a $62 price target. In addition, Coinstar provided an update regarding its joint venture with Verizon Communications (VZ 44.79, +0.35) aimed at improving the offerings at Coinstar's Redbox video rental kiosks. The two companies also announced plans to launch an online video streaming service early next year.

Entering today, hard drive makers had risen steadily in recent days. However, Seagate (STX 27.75, -0.90) broke its winning streak and fell 3.1% after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to ‘Underweight' from ‘Neutral.' Peer Western Digital (WDC 37.86, -0.05) shed 0.1%.

Coal stocks saw broad strength and the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL 24.90, +0.35) advanced 1.4%. The space registered gains after two major producers received upgrades from Tudor Pickering. Arch Coal (ACI 7.65, +0.16) rose 2.1% after being upgraded to ‘Buy' from ‘Accumulate.' Meanwhile, Alpha Natural Resources (ANR 9.36, +0.26) advanced 2.9% following the upgrade to ‘Accumulate' from ‘Hold.'

In notable news, Molycorp (MCP 10.99, -0.34) slid 3.0% after announcing the departure of Chief Executive Officer Mark Smith. The company's Board of Directors has appointed Costantine Karayannopoulos as Interim President and Chief Executive Officer.

This morning, Wal-Mart (WMT 68.94, -1.95) Chief Executive Officer made cautious comments about the ongoing holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart stock lost nearly 3.0% in reaction to the comments, and the weakness spilled over to apparel retailers. The industry has a heightened sensitivity to discretionary spending, and disappointing holiday sales would prove to be a drag on the space. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 46.26, -0.99), Gap (GPS 31.43, -0.39), and Foot Locker (FL 33.39, -1.24) all lost between 1.2% and 3.6%.

Export prices, excluding agriculture, decreased by 0.7% in November after they had increased by 0.2% in the prior month. Excluding oil, import prices decreased by 0.2%, which follows the 0.3% increase experienced in the prior month.

The November Treasury budget showed a $172.1 billion deficit, which was wider than the deficit of $172 billion expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The report has mattered little to market participants as equity indices did not respond to the news.

Looking at tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing claims will be reported at 8:30 ET. In addition, November retail sales, retail sales ex-auto, PPI, and core PPI will also be released at 8:30 ET. Lastly, October business inventories will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -2.99 NASDAQ -8.49 SP500 +0.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 988/1.70 bln/1504 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1478/694.8 mln/1564

3:25 pm : Crude oil dipped to a pit session low of $86.06 per barrel following weaker-than-anticipated inventory data that showed a build of 0.843 mln barrels when a draw of 2.4 mln barrels was expected. However, the energy component lifted to a session high of $87.68 per barrel as the Fed announced that "Operation Twist" will be replaced by a Treasury purchasing program, OPEC agreed to retain its 30 mln bpd output target, and the dollar index struggled in negative territory. Despite slightly pulling-back in late afternoon action, crude booked a solid 1.2% gain as it closed at $86.79 per barrel.

Precious metals also rose in choppy trade as investors digested the launch of QE IV. Gold dipped to a session low of $1708.50 per ounce in morning pit action and rallied to a session high of $1725.00 per ounce following the Fed announcement. However, the yellow metal pulled-back as it headed into the close and settled with a 0.5% gain at $1718.20 per ounce. Silver popped to a session high of $33.88 per ounce and settled at $33.79 per ounce for a 2.4% gain.

Natural gas, on the other hand, extended yesterday's losses as it plunged as low as $3.37 per MMBtu in today's floor trade. It briefly poked into positive territory and brushed a session high of $3.44 per MMBtu, but ultimately settled 0.9% lower at $3.38 per MMBtu.DJ30 +7.56 NASDAQ -4.68 SP500 +2.28 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1097/1.39 bln/1402 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1563/459.7 mln/1477

4:31PM IPG Photonics announces a $0.65 per share one-time special dividend (IPGP) 60.83 -0.22 : (payable on or about December 28, 2012 to stockholders of record at the close of business on December 21, 2012)

4:04PM Lattice Semi lowers Q4 rev guidance (LSCC) 4.23 -0.08 : Co issues downside guidance for Q4 (Dec), lowers Q4 (Dec) revs yo -8 to -6% QoQ to ~$65.2-66.7 mln (from -2 to +2% QoQ) vs. $70.92 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Gross margin percentage is expected to be ~53% plus or minus 2%. This is unchanged from prior guidance. Total operating expenses are expected to be ~$43 million, including ~$5.5 million in restructuring charges. This is unchanged from prior guidance.

10:43AM LDK Solar continues to implement liquidity and working capital plan (LDK) 1.20 +0.16 : Co continues to work to address the liquidity and working capital concerns previously disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2011, originally filed with the SEC on May 15, 2012. In order to achieve a positive result, we have entered into discussions with certain creditors to obtain additional flexibility with respect to the terms and conditions of our existing offshore indebtedness. We have engaged Citigroup to assist us in this process.

NVIDIA (NVDA) has been awarded a contract worth up to $20 mln from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to research embedded processor technologies that could lead to improvements in the ability of autonomous vehicles to collect and process data from on-board sensors.

EMC (EMC) announced a new partnership with Knotice aimed at increasing the speed and performance of analytics and reporting for Knotic

Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS) and Microsemi (MSCC) announced the availability of a joint reference design delivering precise IEEE1588v2 timing and synchronization required by carriers to deliver scalable, higher bandwidth communication services over packet-based networks.

Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) announced that since December 2011 it has shipped 15 million iCE FPGA devices, including its flagship ultra-low density iCE40 FPGA family, making this the company's fastest shipping product of the past decade.

Altera Corporation (ALTR) and ARM (ARMH) announced that, with a unique agreement, the companies have jointly developed a DS-5 embedded software development toolkit with FPGA-adaptive debug capabilities for Altera SoC devices. Altera also announced the first shipments of its 28 nm SoC devices, which combine a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor system with FPGA logic on a single device

Microsoft (MSFT) announced plans to make Microsoft Surface available at additional retailers as soon as mid-December.

Diodes (DIOD) reaffirmed guidance for the fourth quarter with revenues of $160-167 mln vs. $163.57 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Gross margin is expected to be 25 percent, plus or minus 2 percent. Operating expenses are expected to be 23.5% of rev, plus or minus 1%. The income tax rate for the fourth quarter is expected to range between 7-13%, and shares used to calculate GAAP EPS are anticipated to be ~47.0 million.

Dolby Labs (DLB) announced that its Board of Directors declared a one-time special dividend in the amount of $4 per share on its Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, to be paid on December 27, 2012, to the stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 21, 2012. Based on Dolby Laboratories' current shares of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock outstanding, co estimates the total payment for this one-time special dividend will be approximately $408 million.

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From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : Stocks began the day on a slightly higher note as yesterday's optimism regarding a fiscal cliff resolution lingered. However, the initial strength quickly faded, and the S&P 500 slipped below its flat line where it spent the remainder of the session. A recurring theme played out in Washington where lawmakers held another round of press conferences with both sides pushing back against the other. Most notably, Speaker Boehner said the House of Representatives will vote on his ‘plan B' tomorrow. The remarks kept the S&P 500 near its lows before a final round of selling dropped the benchmark index to a loss of 0.8%.

The technology sector outperformed the broader market, and Oracle (ORCL 34.09, +1.21) contributed to the relative strength. The software company gained 3.7% after beating on earnings and revenue.

Elsewhere, Apple (AAPL 526.31, -7.59) lost 1.4% with today's declined causing the company's market cap to slip below $500 billion.

Hard drive makers have seen recent strength, and major manufacturers once again outperformed. Seagate Technology (STX 30.32, +0.96) and Western Digital (WDC 41.20, +1.60) settled higher by 3.3% and 4.0%, respectively. Prior to the open, both stocks were upgraded to ‘Buy' from ‘Neutral' at Craig Hallum. However, Cleveland Research made cautious comments regarding both names.

General Motors (GM 27.18, +1.69) surged 6.6% after the U.S. Treasury announced plans to sell its remaining shares of the company. Of the 500 million shares to be sold, 200 million will be bought by General Motors at $27.50 per share. The remaining 300 million shares will be sold in an orderly fashion over the next 12-15 months. Peer Ford Motor (F 11.73, +0.06) rose by 0.5%.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average advanced 0.2% on the strength of airlines. Delta Air Lines (DAL 11.83, +0.30) and United Continental (UAL 23.96, +0.39) finished higher by 2.6% and 1.7%, respectively. It should be noted the two stocks have added nearly 20% since the beginning of December.

Elsewhere, FedEx (FDX 93.20, +0.84) settled higher by 0.9% after beating on earnings and revenue. While the company's second quarter result exceeded expectations, forward guidance was a point of concern. The provider of package delivery services expects its third quarter earnings to fall below consensus estimates while full-year earnings are forecast in-line with analyst forecasts.

On the downside, railroads underperformed. CSX (CSX 20.01, -0.23) and Union Pacific (UNP 125.77, -1.39) both lost near 1.1%.

Today's economic data focused on housing and painted a mixed picture. November housing starts hit an annualized rate of 861,000 units, and were below the 875,000 expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Meanwhile, building permits came in at 899,000, which were ahead of the Briefing.com consensus forecast of 876,000.

Homebuilders ended the session on a lower note. Lennar (LEN 39.27, -0.44), PulteGroup (PHM 18.46, -0.15), and Toll Brothers (TOL 32.08, -0.43) all lost between 0.8% and 1.3%.

European markets registered gains across the board. Germany's DAX added 0.2% while France's CAC and United Kingdom's FTSE rose by 0.4% each. On the periphery, Greek ASE surged 4.8%.

In Germany, HeidelbergCement led the way with a 4.6% gain. The strength followed comments from MainFirst Bank, which expects the producer of building materials to receive a credit rating upgrade next year. Among the decliners, drug maker Merck lost 2.3% after its cancer treatment trial returned disappointing results.

France's CAC was supported by financials. BNP Paribas advanced 1.6% and Credit Agricole gained 2.3%. It is worth noting that French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici has proposed a bill aimed at separating proprietary trading from traditional banking. As part of the legislation, a EUR10 billion resolution fund would also be set up.

In the United Kingdom, producer of building materials, CRH, led all shares with a 4.9% surge. The outperformance followed optimistic comments from Deutsche Bank, which upgraded CRH to ‘Buy' from ‘Neutral.' On the downside, distributor Bunzl lost 4.3% after JPMorgan lowered the 2013 earnings expectations for Bunzl.

Greek financials soared after the European Central Bank announced it will once again accept Greek Government Bonds as eligible collateral. Eurobank, Piraeus Bank, and National Bank of Greece all surged between 10.0% and 12.5%.

In tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing claims will be reported at 8:30 ET. In addition, the third estimate of third quarter GDP and the GDP deflator will also be released at 8:30 ET. Lastly, November existing home sales, December Philadelphia Fed Survey, November leading indicators, and October FHFA Housing Price Index are all set to cross the wires at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -98.99 NASDAQ -10.17 SP500 -10.98 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1239/1.87 bln/1214 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1507/750.9 mln/1536

3:30 pm : Crude oil continued yesterday's advance as it rallied following inventory data that showed a draw of 0.964 mln barrels when a draw of 1.425 mln was anticipated. It lifted to a session high of $90.33 per barrel and eventually settled at $90.00 per barrel, or 1.9% higher.

Natural gas, on the other hand, chopped around in negative territory for its entire floor session. It dipped to a session low of $3.28 per MMBtu and closed at $3.32 per MMBtu, or 2.7% lower.

Gold chopped around between positive and negative territory during today's pit trade as "fiscal cliff" negotiations continued. The yellow metal gained momentum in late morning action and traded up to a session high of $1675.50 per ounce. However, prices slid to a session low of $1664.30 per ounce moments before settling with a 0.2% loss at $1667.90 per ounce. Silver struggled in the red for its entire session, dipping as low as $31.08 per ounce. Unable to find buying support, it closed 1.6% lower at $31.15 per ounce.DJ30 -56.58 NASDAQ -4.28 SP500 -6.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1240/1548.6 mln/1208 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1609/475 mln/1421

4:31PM Ultratech acquires assets of Cambridge Nanotech, terms not disclosed (UTEK) 35.32 +0.50 : Co announced that it has acquired the assets of Cambridge Nanotech, Inc. (Cambridge). Based in Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge was a leader in atomic layer deposition (ALD) solutions with hundreds of system installations in research and manufacturing settings worldwide. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

4:07PM Jabil Circuit beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides FebQ EPS below consensus, revs in-line (JBL) 18.56 +0.16 : Reports Q1 (Nov) core earnings of $0.61 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.56; revenues rose 7.2% year/year to $4.64 bln vs the $4.41 bln consensus. For Q2 (Feb), co sees core EPS of $0.50-0.58 vs. $0.59 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $4.30-4.50 bln vs. $4.38 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Expectations for [FebQ] are consistent with seasonal patterns of demand...End market demand remains muted in business sectors exposed to government and business spending. Although environmental conditions continue to be uncertain, we maintain our expectation that fiscal 2013 will be another record year for Jabil."

9:04AM Integrated Device: FTC to challenge IDT's proposed acquisition of PLX Technology (PLXT) (IDTI) 6.92 : Integrated Device Technology (IDTI) announced that the US Federal Trade Commission has filed an administrative complaint challenging IDT's proposed acquisition of PLX Technology. IDT is disappointed with the FTC's decision to challenge the acquisition. The co intends to review the FTC's complaint and respond appropriately.

Cryptography Research, a division of Rambus (RMBS), announced the accreditation of Riscure as an independent testing lab to conduct evaluations for the Differential Power Analysis Countermeasure Validation Program.

8:03AM PLX Tech, IDT combination recommended to be blocked by FTC (PLXT) 4.50 : Co announced the Federal Trade Commission has issued an administrative complaint seeking to block the proposed merger between PLX and Integrated Device Technology announced on April 30, 2012, and is authorized to pursue a preliminary injunction in federal district court or other relief necessary to stop the deal pending a full administrative trial.

3:03AM Ciena announces private exchange transactions for Convertible Senior Notes (CIEN) 15.64 : Co announces it has entered into separate, privately negotiated exchange agreements under which it will retire $187.5 mln in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 4.0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2015 in exchange for its issuance of a new series of 4.0% Convertible Senior Notes due 2020 in an aggregate original principal amount of $187.5 mln. The 2020 Notes will mature on Dec 15, 2020. Following these transactions, $187.5 mln in aggregate principal amount of the 2015 Notes will remain outstanding with terms unchanged.

2:51AM Vishay Precision to acquire George Kelk Corporation for ~CAD50 mln (VPG) 13.34 : Co announces the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of George Kelk Corp, of Toronto Canada, a privately held company. KELK is a designer and manufacturer of highly accurate, high technology mission critical electronic measurement and control equipment used by metals rolling mills and mining applications throughout the world. The purchase price for this business is ~CAD50 mln, sub. VPG will finance the acquisition through a combination of cash on hand and third party borrowings. KELK experienced an average of ~CAD30.0 mln in annual net sales and an average of ~CAD8.0 mln in annual EBITDA over the last two years. Co stated, "Beyond the complementary products, KELK will widen and strengthen our geographic footprint in the steel market, in which VPG is mainly in Europe while KELK is strong in Asia, Latin America and North America and certain emerging markets. This will enable us to achieve synergies in the steel industry on a worldwide basis."

FXCM (FXCM) announced certain key operating metrics for November 2012 for its retail and institutional foreign exchange business. Monthly activities included: November 2012 Retail Trading Metrics. Retail customer trading volume of $305 billion in November 2012, 6% lower than October 2012 and 11% lower than November 2011 Average retail customer trading volume per day of $13.9 billion in November 2012, 1% lower than October 2012 and 11% lower than November 2011 An average of 353,983 retail client trades per day in November 2012, 4% higher than October 2012 and 22% lower than November 2011 Tradeable accounts of 203,495 as of November 30, 2012, a decrease of 219, or 0.11% from October 2012, and an increase of 10,723, or 6%, from November 2011. November 2012 Institutional Trading Metrics Institutional customer trading volume of $90 billion in November 2012, 68% higher than October 2012 and 41% lower than November 2011 Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $4.1 billion in November 2012, 76% higher than October 2012 and 41% lower than November 2011 An average of 9,837 institutional client trades per day in November 2012, 68% higher than October 2012 and 67% lower than November 2011

Xyratex (XRTX) announced that its board of directors has declared a one-time, special cash dividend of $2.00 per share. The special cash dividend will be distributed on December 31, 2012 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on December 27, 2012. Xyratex's board of directors has also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 per common share and approved the acceleration of the dividend payable date to December 31, 2012 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 27, 2012. The quarterly dividend would otherwise have been declared in January 2013 with Xyratex's quarterly earnings results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.

FBR Capital is generally constructive on chip stocks for 2013 with the SOX still below 400, and with some macro indicators (like China) beginning to improve. They expect 2013 chip shipments to grow by 3-6% as global GDP ramps slightly (+2.5%), and some supply chain inventories are modestly refilled. Handset- and tablet-exposed suppliers should grow stronger, while PC-exposed suppliers may not grow at all. They would focus on product cycle stories (BRCM, QCOM, MXIM, LSI), and beta leverage stories (FCS, ONNN, ATML), and with MSCC also interesting, too. They see some downside risks for TXN and possibly INTC (though they believe that much of this is already priced in).

09:17 am Vitesse Semi initiated with a Buy at Needham; tgt $3.50: . Needham initiates VTSS with a Buy and price target of $3.50. Firm reachs its price target based on an enterprise value equal to ~3X the company's FY14E New Product revenue. Carriers and enterprises are increasingly turning to Carrier Ethernet as a scalable, low-cost solution to support a growing number of communications services on a single network. Over the past several years, Vitesse has focused significant resources developing Carrier Ethernet switch engines and physical layer solutions (PHYs) for the Mobile Access/IP Edge and SME markets.

09:46 am ORCL up 3.5% after strong quarterly results

Oracle (ORCL $34.08 +1.20) reported second quarter earnings of $0.64 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.61. Revenues rose 3.4% year over year (+5% ex-FX) to $9.11 billion versus the $9.02 billion consensus. New software licenses and cloud software subscriptions revenues were up 17% to $2.4 billion versus guidance for +6-16% ex-FX (+5-15% as reported). Software license updates and product support revenues were up 7% to $4.3 billion. Hardware systems products revenues were $734 million. Non-GAAP operating income was up 9% to $4.3 billion, and non-GAAP operating margin was 47%.

"New software license sales and cloud subscriptions grew 18% in constant currency. Strong organic growth in our software business coupled with a focus on the highly profitable engineered systems segment of our hardware business enabled a second quarter non-GAAP operating margin of 47%. During the last four quarters operating cash flow was more than $13.5 billion -- $10.2 billion of which was returned to our shareholders as we repurchased nearly 350 million ORCL shares during that same twelve month period. Second quarter performance was strong and broad based as all geographies reported double-digit revenue growth in new software license and cloud subscriptions. Applications, middleware and database all had double-digit growth in new software license and cloud subscriptions, with applications leading the pack with growth of over 30%... Already approaching a one billion dollar run rate, our Cloud business will become much bigger over time... Sun has proven to be one of the most strategic and profitable acquisitions we have ever made."

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Ordinary folks losing faith in stocks

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=VPAFKWj9Story user rating:

BERNARD CONDON
Published: Yesterday

In this Sept. 12, 2012, photo, Andrew Neitlich poses in front of one his investment homes in Venice, Fla. Neitlich once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, Neitlich didn't sell his stocks, but like many others he is selling now. An analysis by The Associated Press finds that individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds since they started selling in April 2007. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NEW YORK (AP) - Andrew Neitlich is the last person you'd expect to be rattled by the stock market.

He once worked as a financial analyst picking stocks for a mutual fund. He has huddled with dozens of CEOs in his current career as an executive coach. During the dot-com crash 12 years ago, he kept his wits and did not sell.

But he's selling now.

"You have to trust your government. You have to trust other governments. You have to trust Wall Street," says Neitlich, 47. "And I don't trust any of these."

Defying decades of investment history, ordinary Americans are selling stocks for a fifth year in a row. The selling has not let up despite unprecedented measures by the Federal Reserve to persuade people to buy and the come-hither allure of a levitating market. Stock prices have doubled from March 2009, their low point during the Great Recession.

It's the first time ordinary folks have sold during a sustained bull market since relevant records were first kept during World War II, an examination by The Associated Press has found. The AP analyzed money flowing into and out of stock funds of all kinds, including relatively new exchange-traded funds, which investors like because of their low fees.

"People don't trust the market anymore," says financial historian Charles Geisst of Manhattan College. He says a "crisis of confidence" similar to one after the Crash of 1929 will keep people away from stocks for a generation or more.

The implications for the economy and living standards are unclear but potentially big. If the pullback continues, some experts say, it could lead to lower spending by companies, slower U.S. economic growth and perhaps lower gains for those who remain in the market.

Since they started selling in April 2007, eight months before the start of the Great Recession, individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds, a category that includes both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, according to estimates by the AP. That is the equivalent of all the money they put into the market in the previous five years.

Instead of stocks, they're putting money into bonds because those are widely perceived as safer investments. Individuals have put more than $1 trillion into bond mutual funds alone since April 2007, according to the Investment Company Institute, a trade group representing investment funds.

Selling stocks during either a downturn or a recovery is unusual. Americans almost always buy more than they sell during both periods.

Since World War II, nine recessions besides the Great Recession have been followed by recoveries lasting at least three years. According to data from the Investment Company Institute, individual investors sold during and after only one of those previous downturns - the one from November 1973 through March 1975. And back then a scary stock drop around the start of the recovery's third year, 1977, gave people ample reason to get out of the market.

The unusual pullback this time has spread to other big investors - public and private pension funds, investment brokerages and state and local governments. These groups have sold a total of $861 billion more than they have bought since April 2007,according to the Federal Reserve.

Even foreigners, big purchasers in recent years, are selling now - $16 billion in the 12 months through September.

As these groups have sold, much of the stock buying has fallen to companies. They've bought $656 billion more than they have sold since April 2007. Companies are mostly buying back their own stock.

On Wall Street, the investor revolt has largely been dismissed as temporary. But doubts are creeping in.

A Citigroup research report sent to customers concludes that the "cult of equities" that fueled buying in the past has little chance of coming back soon. Investor blogs speculate about the "death of equities," a line from a famous BusinessWeek cover story in 1979, another time many people had seemingly given up on stocks. Financial analysts lament how the retreat by Main Street has left daily stock trading at low levels.

The investor retreat may have already hurt the fragile economic recovery.

The number of shares traded each day has fallen 40 percent from before the recession to a 12-year low, according to the New York Stock Exchange. That's cut into earnings of investment banks and online brokers, which earn fees helping others trade stocks. Initial public offerings, another source of Wall Street profits, are happening at one-third the rate before the recession.

And old assumptions about stocks are being tested. One investing gospel is that because stocks generally rise in price, companies don't need to raise their quarterly cash dividends much to attract buyers. But companies are increasing them lately.

Dividends in the S&P 500 rose 11 percent in the 12 months through September, and the number of companies choosing to raise them is the highest in at least 20 years, according to FactSet, a financial data provider. Stocks now throw off more cash in dividends than U.S. government bonds do in interest.

Many on Wall Street think this is an unnatural state that cannot last. After all, people tend to buy stocks because they expect them to rise in price, not because of the dividend. But for much of the history of U.S. stock trading, stocks were considered too risky to be regarded as little more than vehicles for generating dividends. In every year from 1871 through 1958, stocks yielded more in dividends than U.S. bonds did in interest, according to data from Yale economist Robert Shiller - exactly what is happening now.

So maybe that's normal, and the past five decades were the aberration.

People who think the market will snap back to normal are underestimating how much the Great Recession scared investors, says Ulrike Malmendier, an economist who has studied the effect of the Great Depression on attitudes toward stocks.

She says people are ignoring something called the "experience effect," or the tendency to place great weight on what you most recently went through in deciding how much financial risk to take, even if it runs counter to logic. Extrapolating from her research on "Depression Babies," the title of a 2010 paper she co-wrote, she says many young investors won't fully embrace stocks again for another two decades.

"The Great Recession will have a lasting impact beyond what a standard economic model would predict," says Malmendier, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.

She could be wrong, of course. But it's a measure of the psychological blow from the Great Recession that, more than three years since it ended, big institutions, not just amateur investors, are still trimming stocks.

Public pension funds have cut stocks from 71 percent of their holdings before the recession to 66 percent last year, breaking at least 40 years of generally rising stock allocations, according to "State and Local Pensions: What Now?," a book by economist Alicia Munnell. They're shifting money into bonds.

Private pension funds, like those run by big companies, have cut stocks more: from 70 percent of holdings to just under 50 percent, back to the 1995 level.

"People aren't looking to swing for the fences anymore," says Gary Goldstein, an executive recruiter on Wall Street, referring to the bankers and traders he helps get jobs. "They're getting less greedy."

The lack of greed is remarkable given how much official U.S. policy is designed to stoke it.

When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke launched the first of three bond-buying programs four years ago, he said one aim was to drive Treasury yields so low that frustrated investors would feel they had no choice but to take a risk on stocks. Their buying would push stock prices up, and everyone would be wealthier and spend more. That would help revive the economy.

Sure enough, yields on Treasurys and many other bonds have recently hit record lows, in many cases below the inflation rate. And stock prices have risen. Yet Americans are pulling out of stocks, so deep is their mistrust of them, and perhaps of the Fed itself.

"Fed policy is trying to suck people into risky assets when they shouldn't be there," says Michael Harrington, 58, a former investment fund manager who says he is largely out of stocks. "When this policy fails, as it will, baby boomers will pay the cost in their 401(k)s."

Ordinary Americans are souring on stocks even though stock prices appear attractive relative to earnings. But history shows they can get more attractive yet.

Stocks in the S&P 500 are trading at 14 times what companies earned per share in the past 12 months. Since 1990, they have rarely traded below that level - that is, cheaper, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. But that period is unusual. Looking back seven decades to the start of World War II, there were long stretches during which stocks traded below that.

To estimate how much investors have sold so far, the AP considered both money flowing out of mutual funds, which are nearly all held by individual investors, and money flowing into low-fee exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which bundle securities together to mimic the performance of a market index. ETFs have attracted money from hedge funds and other institutional investors as well as from individuals.

At the request of the AP, Strategic Insight, a consulting firm, used data from investment firms overseeing ETFs to estimate how much individuals have invested in them. Based on its calculations, individuals accounted for 40 percent to 50 percent of money going to U.S. stock ETFs in recent years.

If you assume 50 percent, individual investors have put $194 billion into U.S. stock ETFs since April 2007. But they've also pulled out much more from mutual funds - $580 billion. The difference is $386 billion, the amount individuals have pulled out of stock funds in all.

If you include the sale of stocks by individuals from brokerage accounts, which is not included in the fund data, the outflow could be much higher. Data from the Federal Reserve, which includes selling from brokerage accounts, suggests individual investors have sold $700 billion or more in the past 5½ years. But the Fed figure may overstate the amount sold because it doesn't fully count certain stock transactions.

The good news is that a chastened stock market doesn't necessarily mean a flat stock market.

Bill Gross, the co-head of bond investment firm Pimco, has probably done more than anyone to popularize the notion that stocks will prove disappointing in the coming years. But he says what is dying is not stocks, but the "cult" of stocks. In a recent letter to investors, he suggested stocks might return 4 percent or so each year, about half the long-term level but still ahead of inflation.

And if America's obsession with stocks is over, some excesses associated with it might fade, too.

Maybe more graduates from top colleges will look to other industries besides Wall Street for careers. Of every 100 members of the Harvard undergraduate Class of 2008 who got jobs after graduation, 28 went into financial services, such as helping run mutual funds or hedge funds, according to a March study by two professors at the university's business school. The average for classes four decades ago was six out of 100.

Of course, those counting the small investor out could be wrong.

Three years after that BusinessWeek story on the "death of equities" ran, in 1982, one of the greatest multi-year stock climbs in history began as the little guys shed their fear and started buying. And so they will surely do again, the bulls argue, and stock prices will really rocket.

Neitlich, the executive coach, has his doubts.

Instead of using extra cash to buy stocks, he is buying houses near his home in Sarasota, Fla., and renting them. He says he prefers real estate because it's local and is something he can "control." He says stocks make up 12 percent his $800,000 investment portfolio, down from nearly 100 percent a few years ago.

After the dot-com crash, it seemed as if "things would turn around. Now, I don't know," Neitlich says. "The risks are bigger than before."

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Determining long term market tops and bottoms for the SMH/SOX and the market as a whole:

Cross Overs of the 50 day sma on the SOX along with the number of stocks above the 200 and 50 day sma's of the NASDAQ which are overbought above the top (red) horizontal line and oversold below the lower (green) horizontal line. The horizontal line placement was picked by me somewhat arbitrarily but the point being made is a simple bit of contrarian logic; when too many stocks are above the 200 and 50 day sma's a reversal is in order. By watching for the cross overs in the 50 day sma above or below the longer term 200 day sma we can predict long term moves in the SOX higher or lower as well which may not correct until extremes are reached as shown by the horizontal lines on all the many charts below:





BPNDX and VXO vs the SOX. Sell zones are seen above or below the red lines depending on the chart. The VXO is a volatility index based on the S&P 100. It moves opposite to the SOX and is most useful at extreme reading to help denote enough "fear" in the market for a long term bottom to form. The BPNDX is based on the number of NASDAQ 100 stocks that have generated or lost PnF buy signals. Look for trend reversals to develop over time. It's not the absolute high or low that is important but rather the development of positive or negative divergences. For instance in October 2002 the BPNDX developed a positive divergence by setting a higher low even as the SOX was setting a lower low.





Market breadth indicators. Sell zones are seen above, or below, the red lines depending on the chart. Long term buy zones are shown above, or below, the green horizontal lines depending on the chart.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The S&P 500 welcomed the New Year with a 2.5% rally after the United States Congress approved measures to avoid the fiscal cliff. According to the budget agreement, individuals earning below $400,000 will see an extension of their recent tax rates while those earning above $400,000 will see their top rate rise to 39.6%. However, the payroll tax will revert back to 6.2% from 4.2%, and the increase will affect most workers. Finally, the $109 billion sequester has been delayed for two months. The focus will now turn to raising the debt ceiling as another lengthy debate is likely to follow.


Technology stocks were among today's top performers, and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 29.81, +0.96) settled higher by 3.3%. Apple (AAPL 549.03, +16.86) added 3.2% as the largest tech company traded in-line with the remainder of the sector.

Elsewhere, semiconductor manufacturers outperformed the broader market and the PHLX Semiconductor Average rose by 4.1%. All 30 names which comprise the complex advanced, and today's strength lifted the average to its best level since late September. Among individual producers, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM 18.10, +0.94) and Veeco Instruments (VECO 31.17, +1.68) both gained near 5.5%.

As expected, financials saw broad strength after Congress passed a budget package to avoid the fiscal cliff. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 16.86, +0.48) settled higher by 2.9%, and was among the top performing sector ETFs. Among the majors, Citigroup (C 41.25, +1.69) surged 4.3%, and outperformed its peers.

The materials sector was also a notable beneficiary of the market rally, and the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF (XLB 38.48, +0.94) gained 2.5%. The strength resulted from yesterday's budget pact as well as recent Chinese economic data, which has allayed some fears regarding a possible slowdown in the Middle Kingdom. An increase in the country's economic activity would bode well for materials demand—especially steel. As such, steelmakers outperformed the sector. Mechel Steel (MTL 7.33, +0.40) and United States Steel (X 25.89, +2.04) saw respective gains of 5.9% and 8.6%.

Despite the market-wide rally, retailers lagged ahead of tomorrow's December same store sales reports. Early indications have suggested consumers showed more caution with regards to their spending habits during the recent holiday season. As such, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 62.85, +0.47) added 0.8% after being up as much as 2.2% at the open. Among individual retailers, Kohl's (KSS 42.21, -0.77) and Macy's (M 38.31, -0.71) lost 1.8% each. Earlier, Buckingham downgraded Kohl's to ‘Neutral' from ‘Buy.' Elsewhere, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO 20.08, -0.43) slipped 2.1% after Jefferies downgraded the stock to ‘Hold' from ‘Buy.'

In M&A news, Zipcar (ZIP 12.18, +3.94) soared 47.8% after the company agreed to be acquired by Avis Budget Group (CAR 20.77, +0.95) for $12.25 per share. The total transaction value is estimated at $500 million and the purchase price represents a 49.0% premium to Zipcar's December 31 close. Following the acquisition announcement, Avis reaffirmed its full-year 2012 earnings and revenue guidance.

Today's market-wide rally pushed the volatility index, or VIX, down to 14.74. Last week, the VIX crossed above 20.00 for the first time since late July. As uncertainty surrounded the budget debate, investors had bid up near-term downside protection, which was reflected by an uptick in the volatility measure. With the uncertainty removed from the immediate term, the VIX plunged nearly 20.0% to levels last seen in late November.

The December ISM Index was reported at 50.7, while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to come in at 50.5, ahead of November's reading of 49.5. Meanwhile, November construction spending decreased by 0.3% month-over-month, against the expected increase of 0.5%.

In tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index and December Challenger Job Cuts will be reported at 7:00 ET and 7:30 ET respectively. December ADP Employment Change will be released at 8:15 ET. Weekly initial and continuing claims will be announced at 8:30 ET and the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its December 12 policy meeting at 14:00 ET. Lastly, automakers will be reporting their sales throughout the day.DJ30 +308.41 NASDAQ +92.75 SP500 +36.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2206/2.05 bln/337 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2840/859.1 mln/280

3:30 pm : Crude oil rose along with the equities market following news that the U.S. Congress reached a deal yesterday, thus averting going over the "fiscal cliff". The energy component brushed a session high of $93.87 per barrel moments after pit trade opened but retreated slightly as the session went on. It eventually closed at $93.10 per barrel, or 1.4% higher.

Precious metals also traded higher today. Gold advanced to a pit session high of $1695.40 per ounce but pulled-back as the dollar index recovered into positive territory. It eventually settled 0.7% higher at $1688.20 per ounce. Silver traded up as high as $31.53 per ounce in morning floor action and settled with a 2.4% gain at $30.99 per ounce.

Natural gas, on the other hand, extended its losses as it fell to a session low of $3.18 per MMBtu on forecasts calling for above-average temperatures across the nation. It managed to inch slightly higher as it headed into the close and settled at $3.23 per MMBtu, or 3.6% lower.DJ30 +243.38 NASDAQ +79.64 SP500 +28.61 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2195/1.64 bln/350 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2805/545.1 mln/299

4:12PM Advanced Micro names Devinder Kumar Chief Financial Officer (AMD) 2.53 +0.13 : Co today announced that after a thorough internal and external search the company has appointed Devinder Kumar as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Jan. 2, 2013. Kumar, 57, will report to Rory Read, AMD president and chief executive officer, and will have responsibility for leading the company's global finance organization. Kumar has been interim CFO since September 2012. He served as corporate controller of the company since 2001 and as senior vice president since 2006.

4:06PM Mellanox Tech lowers Q4 revenue guidance..stock halted (MLNX) 61.19 +1.81 : Co lowers its Q4 guidance, now expects revenue of $119-121 mln, below the co's previous guidance of $145-150 mln and vs consensus of $148.6 mln. The shortfall is primarily the result of a weaker demand environment, challenging macroeconomic conditions, and a technical issue associated with FDR 56Gb/s InfiniBand cabling which caused approximately $20 million of FDR deployments to be delayed. The cabling issue has been resolved and is not expected to impact revenue in the future. The co continues to expect its Q4 non-GAAP gross margin to be in the range of 68.5-69.5%.

11:26AM Interdigital Comm files new complaint against Huawei, Nokia (NOK), Samsung (SSNLF) and ZTE (ZTCOF) with U.S. International Trade Commission (IDCC) 42.21 +1.12 : Co announced that its wholly owned subsidiaries InterDigital Communications, InterDigital Technology, IPR Licensing, and InterDigital Holdings, filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Huawei Technologies, Futurewei Technologies, d/b/a Huawei Technologies (USA), Huawei Device USA, Nokia Corp. (NOK), Nokia, Inc., Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) Samsung Electronics America, Samsung Telecommunications America, ZTE (ZTCOF) and ZTE (USA), alleging that they engaged in unfair trade practices by selling for importation into the United States, importing into the United States and/or selling after importation into the United States certain 3G and 4G wireless devices that infringe up to seven of InterDigital's U.S. patents. The action also extends to certain WCDMA and cdma2000 devices incorporating WiFi functionality.

9:56AM Qualcomm tests its Dec/previous three month high at 64.72 and pauses -- session high 64.75 (QCOM) 64.45 +2.59 : Relatively limited range trade after the early run to 64.75. Its nine month close high from Sep is at 65.08 with the Sep/nine month intraday peak at 65.45

Cypress Semiconductor (CY) announced that I-Rocks Technology has selected Cypress's PRoC-UI solution for its RF6496 wireless keyboard with built-in trackpad

KEMET (KEM) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, KEMET Electronics, received regulatory clearance from the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China for KEC's proposed acquisition of a 34% interest in NEC Tokin.

Vitesse Semiconductor (VTSS) announced that Martin Nuss, chief technology officer at Vitesse, will join the board of directors for the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions.

8:05AM SunPower: MidAmerican Solar acquires solar development from SPWR; financial terms not disclosed (SPWR) 5.64 : Co announced MidAmerican Solar's acquisition from SunPower of the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects, two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in Calif. Together, the two combined projects will form the largest permitted solar photovoltaic power development in the world and will create an estimated 650 jobs during construction.

DSP Group (DSPG) and Grandstream Networks announced that Internet Telephony's "Best Product of the Year 2012," the Grandstream GXP2200 Android Enterprise IP Phone, is powered by DSP Group's XpandR III Media Phone SoC. Co also announced that its VoIP chipset solution has been selected to power the next generation of IP telephones offered by Cetis Group.

Tessera Technologies (TSRA) announced that its Tessera and Invensas subsidiaries each entered into new eight-year patent license agreements with SK hynix. The agreement will result in an increase in the co's recurring royalty revs from SK hynix beginning in Q2 2013. The co and SK hynix also agreed to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit pending in California state court. The co is neither updating its financial guidance nor providing additional financial guidance

5:51AM LDK Solar announced purchase Agreement for LDK Anhui for RMB 25 mln (LDK) 1.41 : Co announced that it has signed a purchase agreement with Shanghai Qianjiang Group in which Qianjiang Group has agreed to purchase all shares of LDK Anhui, located in Hefei City, for ~RMB 25 mln. According to the terms of the agreement, Qianjiang Group will release the guarantee LDK Solar provided to LDK Anhui and its subsidiaries within 12 months, as well as compensate LDK Solar for any loss associated with such guarantee, prior to its release.

DA Davidson initiated Lam Research (LRCX) with a Buy and price target of $56. Over the past decade Lam's technology prowess has enabled it to become the premier Etch player. Today, Lam's extensive etch, clean and deposition product portfolio is positioned to benefit from a number of industry trends that should drive share gains and earnings growth over the next few years. Novellus acquisition adds scale and cost synergy opportunities.

10:42 am S&P technology sector trading higher by 1.5% following broad market rally
The tech sector is trading higher today, just ahead of gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 3.5% higher. Within the chip index, WFR (+6.2%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 2.0% higher today, while the QQQ is up 2.6% and the NASDAQ is trading 2.5% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+4.2%) is showing notable strength.

There were no earnings of note in tech this morning. In news, IDCC (+3.0%) announced that its patent holding subsidiaries have entered into an agreement which extends the term of their worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-bearing patent license agreement with RIMM (+2.1%). Among rumors, INTC's (+2.8%) Web TV service is taking longer than expected to introduce, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, FLIR (+5.3%) was upgraded to Buy at Needham. Also, QCOM (+3.7%) was added to Top Picks Live list at Citigroup, while BRCM (+3.4%) was removed, and B. Riley Caris is adding RLD (+2.4%) to the Focus List. Among downgrades, LNKD (-1.7%) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays, NTLS (-3.0%) was downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan and UMC (+2.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Citigroup. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:29PM Pericom Semi lowers Q2 rev guidance to $29-30 mln (from $30.5-34.5 mln) vs $32.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate (PSEM) 8.09 -0.03 : Co announced updated revenue guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, which ended December 29, 2012. Pericom now expects sales to be $29.0-30.0 mln (vs $32.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate) compared to previous guidance of $30.5-34.5 mln. Guidance for gross margins and operating expenses remain unchanged. "The demand environment has remained weak throughout the quarter, therefore we are updating our guidance on revenues," commented Alex Hui, President and CEO of Pericom. "We have seen continued softness in end user demand resulting from challenging macroeconomic conditions in both our domestic and international markets." No conference call will be held in conjunction with this guidance update. Additional information will be available when the Company reports its second quarter 2013 results during the week of January 28, 2013.

Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS) announced sales and service distribution partnerships with Scientech Corporation and with Collaborated Service Solution both in Taiwan, to provide product and service sales and support for Advanced Energy products in the Taiwan market.

Cisco (CSCO) and NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NXPI) announced that they have each made an investment in Cohda Wireless to advance intelligent transportation systems and car-to-X communications.

6:02AM Silicon Image lowers Q4 revenue guidance below consensus (SIMG) 5.16 :

8:02AM Cray issues prelim revenue expectations of $420 mln vs $447.6 mln Capital IQ Consensus Est; Co also raised FY13 revenue guidance to ~$500 mln vs $458.8 mln consensus, co expects to be profitable in 2012 and 2013 (CRAY) 16.25 : Co reported that its gross margins are expected to be ~36%, slightly higher than previously provided guidance and total operating expenses are expected to be about $120 mln, consistent with previously provided guidance.

Based on preliminary results, total revenue for 2012 is expected to be about $420 mln, of which less than $1 mln is attributable to the acquisition of Appro International. For 2012, gross margins are expected to be ~36%, slightly higher than previously provided guidance, and total operating expenses are expected to be about $120 mln, consistent with previously provided guidance. Total operating expenses for 2012 will depend on the final accounting treatment of the Appro acquisition and includes estimates of ~$7 mln in stock based compensation and acquisition related expenses. Based on these preliminary results, the Co expects to be solidly profitable for 2012, independent of the $139 mln pre-tax gain on the development program divestiture completed during the second quarter.

"We had a record year in 2012 in revenue and operating income -- even after excluding the gain from the Intel transaction. The year was highlighted by the installations of both the largest system in our Co's history and our largest commercial win ever, and by the building momentum in our storage and Big Data initiatives. We completed the acceptance process on the Blue Waters supercomputer at the University of Illinois, but were not able to complete the upgrade to the XK7 system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We now expect to complete the Oak Ridge acceptance during the first half of 2013 and have increased our outlook accordingly."

While a wide range of results remains possible for 2013, the Co now expects 2013 revenue to be about $500 mln. Revenue is expected to ramp during 2013 with about $60 mln in Q1 (vs. $76.7 mln consensus) and roughly 45% of the annual revenue expected in Q4.

Gross margins for 2013 are anticipated to be in the mid-30% range. Total operating expenses for the year are expected to be in the range of $160 mln, which includes ~$10 mln in non-cash items including stock based compensation and the preliminary estimate of amortization of items related to the Appro acquisition. Based on this outlook, we expect to be profitable for 2013.


Silicon Image (SIMG) lowered guidance for the fourth quarter with&with;revenues of $59-60 mln from prior guidance of $64-67 million versus the $65.70 mln Capital IQ consensus. The company announced the reduction is the result of the rescheduling of certain orders by a large customer. The Company also announced it has taken a charge to reflect the write down of certain unsalable inventory due to defects in the material used by one of our assembly vendors in the packaging process. All parts known to be defective have been identified and are within the Company's control. The Company is working with its vendor to resolve this matter as well as to recover the value of the inventory being written off. The amount of this charge as of December 31, 2012 is approximately $6.3 million which will be included in cost of goods sold and represents a GAAP pre-tax per share charge of approximately $0.08 per diluted share for the quarter. This charge will be excluded from our non-GAAP results as we believe this is an unusual and one time charge for which the Company is seeking recovery. "Our lowered revenue guidance for the fourth quarter is the result of changes in the timing of production schedules and the level of inventory management by one of our large customers. Our operating expenses will be lower than planned for the quarter due to continued cost controls as well as lower incentive pay as a result of the reduced financial performance."

08:07 am IPG Photonics downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus: . Stifel Nicolaus downgrades IPGP to Hold from Buy as its analysis indicates a neutral reward to risk profile at current levels, given: (1) IPGP's premium valuation relative to both Commercial Laser peers and historic norms; (2) an expectation of decelerating earnings and revenue growth in 2013; (3) difficult 2013 quarterly comps; and (4) anticipation of increased high power fiber laser competition in 2013/2014.

10:27 am S&P Information Technology Sector trading lower by 0.3% and behind the broader market
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 0.5% lower. Within the chip index, SPRD (-4.2%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% higher today, while the QQQ is down 0.3% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.2% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+1.1%) is showing notable strength, while AAPL (-1.6%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings, PRGS (+6.3%) posted a miss and guided lower. EXTR (-5.1%) and SIMG (-9.9%) also lowered their guidance, while CRAY (-3.2%) offered mixed guidance. In news, ROVI (+4.9%) announced its intent to pursue sale of Rovi Entertainment Store Business. Among rumors, S (-0.4%) is considering Sprint-branded pre-paid plan, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ADNC (+12.3%) was upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan and Stifel upgraded APKT (+9.2%) and ARUN (+2.2%) to Buy. Among downgrades, FSL (-2.3%) was downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan and Argus downgraded MSFT (-0.8%) to Hold. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

http://finance.yahoo.com/marketupdate/storystocks

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Wall Street cheers "cliff" deal, but only for now. Wall Street cheers for now, but knows that the "fiscal cliff" deal leaves trouble brewing

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-cheers-cliff-deal-225119899.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- When lawmakers delivered a long-delayed, last-minute agreement on the budget, Wall Street celebrated. And it would be easy to think that the surge in the Dow the following day meant that investors had put their concerns about Washington's political gridlock behind them.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged on the news, but that doesn't mean the volatility is over. In fact, there could be more turmoil in the market soon because decisions on cutting the federal budget deficit have been put off until March, when the government will reach its borrowing limit. Republicans have already said they will demand cuts to spending as a condition for extending the limit.

"The uncertainty is still there, the key issues are spending cuts and entitlement reforms and, for the most part, those were not addressed," says Terry Sandven, chief equities strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "This sets the stage for sharper rhetoric and increased market volatility as these discussions evolve."

The last time lawmakers tussled over the debt limit, the stock market plunged and the U.S. government lost its AAA debt rating. The Dow fell almost 7 percent in the two weeks before an agreement was reached Aug. 3, 2011.

Many business leaders objected to the agreement lawmakers reached late Tuesday. The Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies, said that although it addressed some of the immediate negative consequences that the economy would have faced going over the "fiscal cliff," it failed to address the "serious and fundamental" reforms the economy needs. The National Retail Federation said that the deal was welcome, though it was only the first step in necessary tax reform.

Companies are likely to remain wary of investing until they get more clarity from Washington, says Joe Heider, a principal at Rehmann Financial in Cleveland, Ohio. He likens the current U.S. business climate to a sporting event where the referees tell the players to take the field before telling them that the rules of the game will only be decided on once the final whistle has been blown.

"Washington needs to get out of the way of the financial markets and American business," said Heider. "They need to create some certainty over how businesses should best deploy all the cash that they're sitting on."

And corporations are sitting on a lot of cash. Companies have been steadily building up their reserves over the last five years and are now sitting on record cash piles. By the end of the third quarter of last year, S&P 500 companies had accumulated more than $1 trillion in cash, according to data from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

At least for now, companies are unlikely to invest much of that money back into their businesses simply because demand just isn't strong enough, says U.S. Bank's Sandven. Instead they will spend it on acquisitions, stock buy-backs and pay higher dividends. Those are all actions that should boost stock prices in the near term, despite the ongoing uncertainty and increased volatility that will be caused by political wrangling.

Investors should take advantage of any volatility in the market created by the political wrangling to seek out stocks that have a history of growing their dividends, says Sandven. He estimates that half of the stocks in the S&P 500 have a dividend yield that is higher than the current 10-year U.S. Treasury note. The 10-year Treasury note was at 1.90 percent Friday.

He also recommends that investors buy the stocks of companies that have exposure to emerging markets that have a growing middle class and don't have the same debt issues as the U.S.

Joseph Tanious, a global markets strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds, says investors would be wise to remain calm when the negotiations in Washington around the debt ceiling start to heat up this spring.

The stock market dropped sharply in the weeks after the election Nov. 6 as investors worried that a divided government wouldn't get a deal done in time to meet a budget deadline by the end of the year, but it has rebounded since then. The S&P 500 is now 2 percent higher than it was on election day, even after falling by as much as 5 percent in the two weeks following the vote. On Friday it closed at 1,466, the highest since December 2007.

"When push came to shove, Congress did come together to reach an agreement," says Tanious. "Many people were saying you should be out of the market ... (that) markets are going to capitulate, and that didn't happen."

Stocks have rallied over the last three years as investors remain optimistic that the economy will maintain a slow, but steady, recovery from recession, as the housing market improves and as the outlook for jobs gets better.

And while investors also see the wisdom in addressing the nation's long-term debt problems, they point out that businesses and consumers have been aggressively paying down their own debts in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. That leaves more flexibility for people and companies to shop, invest, and spend money, helping to lift the economy — and the stock market — even if Washington's political dysfunction worsens.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Stocks registered modest losses during today's quiet session. With no economic data or notable earnings to dictate the tone, the major averages were trapped in a relatively narrow range. The S&P 500 opened in the red, and traded near its opening levels for the duration of the session. As a result, the benchmark index finished lower by 0.3%. The Nasdaq outperformed and shed 0.1% after Apple (AAPL 523.90, -3.10) recovered the bulk of its early losses to ended lower by 0.6%.

The SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 73.22, -0.57) shed 0.8% despite little change in the price of crude oil. Several energy companies lagged after receiving downgrades from Howard Weil. Among the most notable names, Phillips 66 (PSX 51.36, -1.78) was downgraded to ‘Sector Perform' and Tesoro (TSO 40.22, -2.32) was cut to ‘Sector Outperform.' Phillips 66 lost 3.4% and Tesoro fell 5.5%.

Financials performed in-line with the broader market after the Federal Reserve announced the results of the Independent Foreclosure Review. As a result of the review, ten major banks will be required to provide $3.3 billion in payments and $5.2 billion in other assistance to affected homeowners. The settlement comes after banks engaged in deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing. Looking at individual financials, Wells Fargo (WFC 34.57, -0.37) and US Bank (USB 32.92, -0.30) lost 0.5% and 0.9% respectively. Also of note, Bank of America (BAC 12.09, -0.02) announced it has reached a settlement with Fannie Mae to resolve agency mortgage repurchase claims on loans originated and sold directly to Fannie Mae through December 31, 2008. The settlement is expected to reduce Bank of America's fourth quarter pretax income by about $2.7 billion.

The health care sector registered gains thanks to the strength of health care tech companies. Allscripts Healthcare (MDRX 9.71, +0.34) rose by 3.6% after Avondale upgraded the stock to ‘Outperform.' Elsewhere, Quality Systems (QSII 18.21, +0.82) gained 4.7% after NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of QSII, announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with Medline Industries to expand its integrated solutions.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average slipped 0.4% as railroads underperformed. Earlier, Kansas City Southern (KSU 86.42, -2.40) was downgraded to ‘Equal Weight' from ‘Overweight' at Stephens. CSX (CSX 20.46, -0.48) and Kansas City Southern were two of the weakest rail operators, and both lost in excess of 2.0%.

On the upside, airlines saw relative strength. A weekend article published in Barron's discussed the industry's valuation and pointed to Delta Air Lines (DAL 12.99, +0.01) as one of top airline stocks.

For-profit education names were pressured after ITT Education (ESI 15.57, -3.72) announced it expects to record an after-tax charge of about $13.2 million to its fourth quarter net income. The charge stems from a settlement with Sallie Mae, and is expected to reduce ITT's fourth quarter bottom line by about $0.56. ITT Education slumped 19.3% on the news, and its peers underperformed as well. Strayer Education (STRA 57.69, -3.17) and New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU 19.50, -0.50) lost 5.2% and 2.5% respectively.

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to November consumer credit, scheduled for a 15:00 ET release.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $32 billion in 3-yr notes.DJ30 -50.92 NASDAQ -2.85 SP500 -4.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1069/1.66 bln/1439 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1374/625.7 mln/1653

3:30 pm : Crude oil erased overnight losses on support from a weakening dollar index. It lifted off it pit session low of $92.42 per barrel and climbed into positive territory in morning action. It settled with a 0.1% gain at $93.15 per barrel, slightly below its session high of $93.30 per barrel.

Natural gas, however, erased earlier gains as it fell off its session high of $3.35 per MBMtu. Despite trending upwards in afternoon action, it settled 0.6% lower at $3.27 per MMBtu.

Gold slid off its pit session high of $1656.40 per ounce and into negative territory, where it chopped around for most of today's floor trade. Despite the weaker dollar index, the yellow metal settled with a 0.2% loss at $1646.30 per ounce.

Silver bounced to a session high of $30.25 per ounce after trading as low as $29.86 per ounce in morning floor action. It closed with a 0.6% gain at $30.08 per ounce.DJ30 -41.60 NASDAQ -1.03 SP500 -4.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1086/1366.9 mln/1395 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1324/426 mln/1656

10:05AM SanDisk vacillating near its nine month close high from Sep at 46.18 (SNDK) 46.11 +0.65 : The Sep/nine month intraday high is at 46.99.

10:03AM Semiconductor Hldrs ETF climbs back near flat line after gap test (SMH) 33.24 unch : Weakness in early trade probed last week's bull gap top at 32.99 (session low 33.00) and rebounded with a solid performance in INTC +1% helping to underpin (SNDK, MRVL, MCHP, ALTR, BRCM).

9:26AM Intermolecular: First Solar (FSLR) extends and expands collaboration and licensing agreement with IMI (IMI) 8.77 : Co announced they have entered into a two-year collaboration and licensing agreement focused on further increases to the conversion efficiency of First Solar's cadmium telluride solar cell technology. Under the new collaborative development program, First Solar (FSLR) and Intermolecular researchers will work together to develop disruptive new approaches to increasing the performance of CdTe solar cell technology using Intermolecular's proprietary High Productivity Combinatorial platform. The program targets substantial gains in First Solar's module conversion efficiency beyond its previously announced roadmap.

Broadcom (BRCM) announced that Comcast (CMCSA) has chosen its connected home set-top box technology for use in the RNG150N interactive STB now shipping to subscribers. Co also announced that its HomePlug AV Powerline Communications solution has been selected by NETGEAR (NTGR).

Atmel (ATML) announced that ASUS has selected the recently launched Atmel XSense touch sensor for a next-generation tablet scheduled to be released to the market in Q1 2013.

Invensas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tessera Technologies (TSRA), announced that its new xFD "DIMM-in-a-Package" memory technology has been licensed to an original equipment manufacturer, and this technology will be demonstrated in Intel-based Ultrabooks at CES 2013.

Mattson Technology (MTSN) has shipped its Helios XP rapid thermal processing system to a fourth major foundry customer.

6:01AM NXP Semi appoints Hans Rijns as Chief Technology Officer (NXPI) 27.34 : Co announced that Hans Rijns and Dave French will jointly take responsibility for the NXP R&D function per immediate effect. Hans Rijns is appointed Chief Technology Officer.

HP (HPQ) unveiled the HP ENVY 27-inch IPS Monitor, HP's touch notebook PC, the HP Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook; and a pocket-sized storage device for wireless content streaming, the HP Pocket Playlist.

NVIDIA (NVDA) announced six leading international cloud-gaming companies plan to use the NVIDIA GRID Cloud Gaming Platform to deliver gaming services to global broadband companies, Co also introduced NVIDIA Tegra 4, the world's fastest mobile processor.

Pericom Semi (PSEM) announced updated revenue guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, which ended December 29, 2012. Pericom now expects sales to be $29.0-30.0 mln (vs $32.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate) compared to previous guidance of $30.5-34.5 mln. Guidance for gross margins and operating expenses remain unchanged. "The demand environment has remained weak throughout the quarter, therefore we are updating our guidance on revenues," commented Alex Hui, President and CEO of Pericom. "We have seen continued softness in end user demand resulting from challenging macroeconomic conditions in both our domestic and international markets." No conference call will be held in conjunction with this guidance update. Additional information will be available when the Company reports its second quarter 2013 results during the week of January 28, 2013.

Sequans Communications (SQNS) announced that primarily due to a delay in finalizing an agreement related to a new design win, revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 is expected to be approximately $3.1 mln, below the range of previous guidance. The related impact on non-IFRS loss per diluted share/ADS is an estimated increase in the loss per share by up to $0.02. The company issued guidance for the fourth quarter with EPS of ($0.28)-($0.24), may not be comparable to the ($0.22) Consensus, and below prior guidance of ($0.26)-($0.22); sees Q4 (Dec) revs of $0.9-2.9 mln, may not be comparable to $6.55 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate and below prior guidance of $4-6 million. Co states: "...We continue to expect our LTE revenue to ramp during the second half of 2013, and the revised guidance for the fourth quarter of 2012 does not affect these expectations."

Procera Networks (PKT) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Vineyard Networks. The acquisition will enable Procera to extend its Intelligent Policy Enforcement business into the growing Enterprise DPI market. The total consideration for the acquisition is $28.0 million CAD, comprised of $15.4 million CAD in Procera common stock and $12.6 million CAD in cash. Procera expects to realize meaningful bookings, revenue and operating scale from the acquisition. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding stock-based compensation expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets, management currently expects the following: Vineyard is expected to add approximately $4 million to $5 million to Procera's 2013 revenue, with gross margin in excess of 90%. Including one-time, non-cash purchase accounting adjustments, the acquisition is expected to be slightly dilutive to Procera's 2013 EPS; without these adjustments the acquisition would have been expected to be EPS neutral in 2013. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Procera's 2014 EPS on a non-GAAP basis.

08:26 am SolarCity initiated with a Buy at Needham; tgt $17: . Needham initiates SCTY with a Buy and price target of $17. By structuring solar leases at lower rates than retail electricity, the company has rapidly grown to become the largest player in the retail solar market. While its model has many moving parts, firm believes that the positive factors enabling the significant growth of solar leasing will be sustained at least over the next 2-3 years, allowing SCTY to continue to grow its business and ownership share of solar assets.

12:11 pm S&P Information Tech sector trading slightly lower today
The tech sector is trading lower today, just ahead of larger losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading only 0.1% lower. Within the chip index, CRUS (+3.5%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% lower today, while the QQQ is down 0.1% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.2% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+2.0%) is showing notable strength, while CSCO (-0.8%) is under pressure. In tech earnings, PSEM (-9.8%) lowered Q2 guidance Friday after the close. This morning, DSPG (+5.3%) raised Q4 revenue guidance, while HILL (-12.0%) lowered Q4 guidance. In news, the Consumer Electronics Show got underway last night. NVDA (-3.0%) unveiled the Tegra 4 processor. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, CAJ (-1.6%) was upgraded to Buy at Jefferies, SYMC (-0.4%) was upgraded to Overweight at Barclays, CSOD (+2.1%) was upgraded to Overweight at Barclays, and INTC (+1.3%) was upgraded at Lazard and BMO. Also, MU (+3.4%) was added to Top Picks Live list at Citigroup. Among downgrades, IFNNY (-2.2%) and ASML (-1.5%) were downgraded at BofA/Merrill, AMAT (-1.7%) was downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan, YHOO (-2.7%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Bernstein, EA (-2.2%) was downgraded to Neutral at Sterne Agee, QLIK (-2.3%) and BIDU (-2.6%) were downgraded to Equal-Weight at Barclays and SAP (-0.8%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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SOX Component Charts versus the VIX on Long Term Daily Charts:


































http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cp?s=^SOX

RtS

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Stocks began the day on a positive note after Alcoa (AA 9.08, -0.02) kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season with a strong top line result. With no notable economic data, the remainder of the session was largely uneventful as the key indices retreated off their respective highs, ending with just a portion of their early gains. The S&P 500 added 0.3%.

Financials lagged the broader market, and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 16.94, -0.03) shed 0.2%. Bank of America (BAC 11.43, -0.55) lost 4.6%, and was a notable underperformer. This morning, Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral' from ‘Outperform.' In addition, Bank of America is taking part in a two-day hearing on its successor liability over the Countrywide legacy assets.

Also of note, multiple reports have indicated Morgan Stanley (MS 19.62, -0.03) will cut 1,600 jobs in its institutional securities business. The expected layoffs would amount to about 6.0% of the company's workforce within the investment banking unit. Looking at other majors, Citigroup (C 42.04, -0.42) slipped 1.0% and Goldman Sachs (GS 134.32, +1.27) added 1.0%.

For-profit education names saw general weakness after Apollo Group (APOL 19.32, -1.62) reported its quarterly results. Although Apollo beat on earnings and revenue, its full-year revenue guidance was a disappointment. Following the earnings report, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to ‘Equal-Weight' from ‘Overweight.' Apollo Group sank 7.8% and peers DeVry (DV 24.00, -1.24) and Strayer Education (STRA 52.70, -4.47) both lost in excess of 4.5%.

A handful of tech companies advanced after issuing upbeat guidance. Interactive Intelligence (ININ 39.02, +6.12) surged 18.6% after the company guided its fourth quarter and full-year revenue ahead of the consensus estimate. Elsewhere, Seagate (STX 33.48, +2.09) advanced 6.6% after raising its second quarter revenue guidance above analyst estimates. Peer Western Digital (WDC 43.80, +1.82) gained 4.3%.

Also of note, Apple (AAPL 517.10, -8.21) dropped 1.6%. Last evening, the Wall Street Journal published reports which indicated the tech company may launch a lower-end iPhone during the second half of the year. Among industrials, Boeing (BA 76.76, +2.63) added 3.6% to rebound from recent weakness which followed concerns about mechanical issues with the company's new Dreamliner 787 jet. Note that earlier reports out of Japan have indicated an All Nippon Airways flight was cancelled due to an issue with the plane's braking system.

Today's economic data was limited to the MBA Mortgage index, which pointed to an 11.7% week-over-week increase in mortgage applications. This followed the prior week's decline of 10.4%.

Looking at tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing claims will be reported at 8:30 ET.

The U.S. Treasury will hold a $13 billion 30-yr reopening.DJ30 +61.66 NASDAQ +14.00 SP500 +3.87 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1607/1.69/859 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2063/671.7 mln/959

3:30 pm :

Feb crude oil climbed to a floor session high of $93.65 per barrel shortly after equity markets opened but tanked into negative territory and to a session low of $92.76 per barrel on inventory data. Although crude inventories showed a smaller-than-anticipated build (1.314 mln vs 1.75 mln consensus), the build in gasoline inventories came in much higher than expected (7.412 mln vs 2.4 mln consensus). The energy component then inched higher for the remainder of the session and managed to shave losses to 0.1% as it closed at $93.09 per barrel.
Feb natural gas extended yesterday's losses as it inched lower into the red. It touched a session low of $3.09 per MMBtu and settled at $3.11 per MMBtu, or 3.4% lower.
Feb gold retreated into negative territory from its pit session high of $1665.00 per ounce as the dollar index gained strength. The yellow metal touched a session low of $1651.30 per ounce and settled 0.4% lower at 1655.60 per ounce.
Mar silver spent floor trade in negative territory, dipping as low as $30.07 per ounce in morning action. Unable to erase much of the loss, it settled 0.8% lower at $30.25 per ounce.

Mattson Technology (MTSN) has shipped an etch system to a major foundry, the sixth semiconductor manufacturer now using its etch systems.

First Solar (FSLR) and Fundaci?n Chile announced that First Solar has acquired Solar Chile, a Santiago-based solar development company in which Fundaci?n Chile was an early investor. This culminates a strategic working alliance the two companies formed in Oct. 2011.

Seagate Tech (STX) sees second quarter revenue at least $3.6 billion versus the $3.52 billion consensus. The company announced selected preliminary financial results for its fiscal second quarter of 2013, which ended on December 28, 2012. Seagate expects to report Q2 2013 revenue of at least $3.6 billion and gross margin of more than 27%, reflecting unit shipments of approximately 58 mln and maintaining market share. These preliminary results compare to the Company's previous expectations for revenue of approximately $3.5 billion and gross margin at the lower end of the Co's long-term non-GAAP gross margin range of 27% to 32%. During the quarter the co paid $1.1 bln in share redemptions and dividend payments that included a one-time acceleration of the December 2012 quarter dividend payment. The Company redeemed approximately 30 mln ordinary shares and exited December 2012 with 358 mln ordinary shares outstanding. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short term investments totaled approximately $2.0 billion on December 28, 2012.

Diodes (DIOD) announced that it has secured a five-year $300 mln revolving senior credit facility. The credit facility bears interest at LIBOR plus 1.50 to 2.25 percent on the drawn amount and also includes an option to increase the size of the credit facility by up to $200 million subject to securing additional lender commitments.

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

Dow +17.21 at 13488.43, Nasdaq +3.87 at 3125.63, S&P -0.07 at 1472.05

The major averages saw little change during today's session, and the S&P 500 remained at its five-year high. However, equities slipped out of the gate as data out of China indicated the country's consumer price index rose by 2.5% year-over-year. The news put a damper on expectations for future stimulus and China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.8%. Domestically, traders looked to Wells Fargo (WFC 35.10, -0.30), which was the first financial to report its fourth quarter results.

The financial sector was the weakest performer and Wells Fargo lost 0.9%. The bank's quarterly report topped the Capital IQ earnings and revenue forecast, but turned out to be less upbeat below the surface. During the fourth quarter, Wells Fargo saw its margins compress to a multi-year low. In addition, mortgage originations dropped from $139 billion in the third quarter to $125 billion during the most-recent reporting period.

Elsewhere, American Express (AXP 61.24, +0.45) added 0.7% after the company pre-announced better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings. Additionally, American Express has announced plans to cut over 5,000 jobs.

The materials sector lagged due to underperformance from miners and steelmakers following hotter-than-expected Chinese inflation data. Earlier, BHP Billiton (BHP 76.66, -2.03) and Rio Tinto (RIO 55.65, -1.64) were both downgraded to ‘Neutral' from ‘Outperform' at Macquarie. The two miners settled lower by 2.6% and 2.9% respectively.

The consumer staples space was the top performing sector and the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF (XLP 35.92, +0.16) ended higher by 0.5%. Though most components were mixed, tobacco stocks led the sector higher. Philip Morris (PM 89.23, +1.94) was the top industry performer after Goldman Sachs added the stock to its Conviction Buy List. Philip Morris gained 2.2% and other cigarette producers saw strength as well. Reynolds American (RAI 42.62, +0.36) and Lorillard (LO 117.02, +0.93) both gained near 0.9%.

With the holiday shopping season in the rearview mirror, the market has been receiving early reports concerned with holiday spending. Yesterday, Aeropostale (ARO 12.38, -0.86) lowered its earnings guidance which weighed on rival teen retailers. Though the stock proved to be resilient during yesterday's session, it ended lower by 6.5% today. Earlier, Piper Jaffray downgraded the stock to ‘Neutral' from ‘Overweight.' Additionally, Imperial Capital has cut its price target for Aeropostale to $15 from $18. Looking at peers, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO 19.14, -0.80) and Buckle (BKE 43.85, -0.33) lost 4.0% and 0.8% respectively.

Elsewhere, Best Buy (BBY 14.21, +2.00) surged 16.4%. This morning, the electronics retailer reported flat domestic comparable store sales while international sales declined by 6.4% year-over-year. With lowered expectations going into the holiday period, the market is receiving today's update as better-than-feared.

Overnight, aircraft manufacturer Boeing (BA 75.16, -1.93) returned to the headlines. Overnight reports from Reuters indicated that two more Dreamliner 787 jets have experienced structural issues. In response to the rash of recent issues, the United States Federal Aviation Administration has ordered a review of the aircraft's electrical systems.

A handful of economic data points were reported today. The trade deficit widened to $48.7 billion during November after a downwardly revised prior month deficit of $42.1 billion. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the deficit would come in at $41.8 billion.

Export prices, excluding agriculture, decreased by 0.2% in December after they had decreased by 0.7% during the prior month. Excluding oil, import prices decreased by 0.1%, which follows the 0.2% decrease experienced in the prior month.

The December Treasury Budget showed a deficit of $260 million, which was narrower than the deficit of $1.0 billion expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The report has mattered little to market participants as equity indices did not respond to the news.

Week in Review: S&P 500 Inches to its Five-Year High

On Monday, stocks registered modest losses. With no economic data or notable earnings to dictate the tone, the major averages were trapped in a relatively narrow range. The S&P 500 opened in the red, and traded near its opening levels for the duration of the session. As a result, the benchmark index finished lower by 0.3%. Bank of America (BAC 11.63, -0.15) announced it has reached a settlement with Fannie Mae to resolve agency mortgage repurchase claims on loans originated and sold directly to Fannie Mae through December 31, 2008. The settlement is expected to reduce Bank of America's fourth quarter pretax income by about $2.7 billion.

Tuesday's session saw the S&P 500 end lower by 0.3% after spending the duration of the day in the red. With little economic data of note and below-average volume, the key indices traded in range bound fashion. Consumer discretionary stocks were in focus after Yum! Brands (YUM 66.87, -0.62) reaffirmed its full-year 2012 earnings guidance, but lowered the same-store sales estimates for its China division. As a result of the disappointing outlook, Yum! Brands slid 4.2% and other quick service restaurants traded lower as well.

On Wednesday, equities began the day on a positive note after Alcoa (AA 8.94, -0.03) kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season with a top line result which exceeded estimates. With no notable economic data, the remainder of the session was largely uneventful as the key indices retreated off their respective highs, ending with just a portion of their early gains. The S&P 500 added 0.3%. For-profit education names saw general weakness after Apollo Group (APOL 19.21, -0.02) reported its quarterly results. Although Apollo beat on earnings and revenue, its full-year revenue guidance was a disappointment. Shares of APOL lost 7.8% as a result.

Thursday started on a positive note after China's trade surplus expanded to $31.6 billion due to strong export growth. The upbeat open was followed by a late-morning stumble, but the S&P 500 showed resilience and climbed to fresh highs. The benchmark index ended with a gain of 0.8%. The financial sector paced the advance, and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 17.11, -0.04) settled higher by 1.3%. The financial sector proxy ETF ended at a fresh 52-week high with most majors scheduled to announce their fourth quarter earnings next week.

2:23PM Brocade awarded permanent injunction in intellectual property theft case against A10 Networks (BRCD) 5.58 +0.11 : Co announced that a San Jose federal court confirmed a $60 million damages verdict against A10 Networks and entered an order permanently enjoining A10 from infringing on Brocade's patents involving technologies for Global Server Load Balancing and High Availability. The Court enjoined A10 from "making, using, selling, or offering to sell in the United States, or importing into the United States any AX series application delivery controller that includes features that infringe" on these asserted claims. Further, A10 has been ordered to "notify all distributors, customers, or third-parties who have ordered, received, or purchased any AX series application delivery controller from A10 or any affiliated entity" about the issuance of this order within 10 business days.

08:53 am Cree target raised to $36 at Needham: . Needham raises their CREE tgt to $36 from $32. They expect initial adoption of LED will be in the high-end commercial and outdoor segments, where they believe Cree's chip performance and integration are crucial to achieving strong adoption. They believe Cree's technical advantage allows it to charge premium prices over even other tier-one peers, driving strong margins. While they are slightly more defensive going into the F2Q13 earnings call on January 22, 2013, they believe the buy-side already have lower expectations for the seasonally weaker March quarter outlook than the current sell-side estimates.

Xyratex (XRTX) reported fourth quarter loss of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.32), while revenues fell 31.5% year/year to $265.4 million versus the $255.18 mln consensus. The company issued in-line EPS guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $(0.21)-(0.01), excluding non-recurring items, versus the ($0.20) consensus and sees Q1 revs below consensus, while co sees revenues at $159-189 million versus the $207.16 million consensus.

Synnex (SNX) reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.12 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $1.04, while revenues fell 2.7% year/year to $2.77 billion versus the $2.76 bln consensus. The company issued guidance for the first quarter with EPS of $0.85-0.89, excluding non-recurring items, versus the . $0.89 consensus, with revenues of $2.38-2.48 billion versus the $2.51 bln consensus. Distribution: Revenue was $2.72 billion, down 3% from the prior fiscal year quarter, due in part to a previously reported customer business transition starting within Q4 2011 from gross revenue to net fee for services, resulting in lower reported revenue in Q4 2012. Global Business Services (GBS): Revenue grew to $54.9 million, an increase of 22.2% over the prior fiscal year quarter. "I am pleased to report solid quarterly earnings even as compared to the prior year's exceptional profits from the hard disk drive shortage. Strong operational execution within the core Distribution Segment aligned well with rapid expansion into adjacent, higher margin service and solution businesses."

JDSU (JDSU) announced two executive appointments, naming Rex Jackson as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Susan Spradley as senior vice president with responsibility for the development and management of the company's communications test and measurement product portfolio. Jackson reports to Tom Waechter, JDSU's president and chief executive officer, and has served as acting CFO since September 2012. He joined JDSU two years ago as senior vice president, Business Services, with responsibility for several corporate functions, including Information Technology, where he has driven significant operational improvements. Jackson brings strong financial management experience to the company. Prior to JDSU, he served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Symyx Technologies, where he led the company's acquisition of MDL Information Systems and subsequent merger with Accelrys. Jackson also served as acting CFO at Synopsys and held executive positions with Avago, AdForce and Read-Rite.

AOL (AOL) was initiated with a Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald; tgt $32. Firm notes while they believe management has done a remarkable job creating shareholder value since the spin-off through asset sale, operational turnaround is still a work-in-progress, which if successful, could put the company back on a growth path and make AOL a major player again. At current valuation, they find the upside from "low-hanging fruit" already picked; management now needs to demonstrate that core O&O display ad revenue can grow at/near industry rates for further stock upside.

OCZ (OCZ) filed to delay its 10-Q. The company stated in a filing, "As previously reported, OCZ Technology Group delayed the filing of its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 31, 2012 as the Company requires additional time for compilation and review to insure adequate disclosure of certain information. The Company's Audit Committee had also concluded that the Company should restate the results for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, as well as the results for certain quarters of fiscal 2012 and for the fiscal year 2012. The Board and management are in discussions with Crowe Horwath LLP, the Company's independent auditors regarding the matters identified in the investigation. As such, the Company is unable to file its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended November 30, 2012."

10:55 am S&P Tech Sector trading lower by -0.1% today; near flat line
The tech sector is trading lower today, just ahead of larger losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading nearly flat on the session. Within the chip index, SNDK (+2.4%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.2% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+1.7%) is showing notable strength, while AAPL (-0.8%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, XRTX (-3.7%) and SNX (-2.5%) posted quarterly beats, but guided lower. In news, XRX (-0.4%) announced that CFO Luca Maestri is leaving the company to assume the role of corporate controller at AAPL (-0.5%). Among rumors, we are hearing IBM (+0.8%) for SPLK (+5.8%) takeover chatter making the rounds. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, MXIM (+0.4%) was upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan and NOK (+1.0%) was upgraded to Buy from Sell at Societe Generale. Among downgrades, GLW (-3.7%) was downgraded to Neutral at Goldman, RIMM (-0.1%) was downgraded to Underperform at BMO, FISV (-0.8%) was downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan and EA (+0.4%) was downgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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Amateur Investors Weekend Stock Market Analysis (1/12/13)

http://www.amateur-investor.net/Weekend_Market_Analysis_Jan_13_2013.htm

Back in early 2012 I said there were a couple of patterns to watch for in the long term. A year later both still remain in play. The first pattern was a large Head and Shoulders Top pattern in the Dow similar to what occurred in the 1970's. In this example after forming the 2nd Shoulder the Dow then traded sideways in a choppy pattern for 6 years (blue lines) as it held support at the 61.8% Retrace calculated from the late 1974 low to the 1976 high.



If we look at a current chart of the Dow a similar pattern has evolved the last several years with the rally from the March 2009 low acting as the 2nd Shoulder. If the Dow were to follow the pattern from the 1970's then a consolidation period/trading range would follow lasting several years with the 61.8% Retrace near 9250 providing long term support.



Meanwhile the other major pattern to be on the lookout for is a Broadening Top/Megaphone pattern. The S&P 500 exhibited this pattern from the mid 1960's through the early 1970's. Notice once the final move up completed (Wave 5) this was followed by a substantial sell off as the S&P 500 eventually made a lower low (point C).



Currently one could certainly argue a similar pattern is occurring in the S&P 500 as we are in the last leg up with a target near 1600 for the final 5th Wave. This would then be followed by a substantial sell off with an eventual drop below the 600 level as a lower low occurs.



A target for the Dow in this pattern would probably be around 15000 or so for the final 5th Wave. Meanwhile once completed the downside target would be below the 6000 level.



Of course the big question is which pattern is favored at this point? Looking at a daily chart of the S&P 500 versus the Volatility Index (VIX) shows investors are extremely complacent as the VIX is at a level not seen since June of 2007. Meanwhile the S&P 500 appears to be exhibiting an Ending Diagonal/Wedge pattern as "e" is nearing completion. Thus at this time I would favor the large Head and Shoulders Top versus the Broadening Top as talked about above.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Today's session began on a lower note after pre-market weakness in Apple (AAPL 501.75, -18.55) weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 marked its session low in the 1465 area an hour into the session. The benchmark index then reversed and spent the remainder of the session climbing back near its flat line before finishing with a slim loss.

Apple lost 3.6% after being down as much as 4.5% during pre-market trade. The underperformance followed reports from the Nikkei and the Wall Street Journal, which indicated the largest tech company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 parts due to sluggish demand. The early selling pushed the stock below $500 for the first time in eleven months. A handful of Apple suppliers were also pressured by the news as Qualcomm (QCOM 64.24, -0.66) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS 28.62, -2.96) lost 1.0% and 9.4% respectively. Note that several analysts have come out in defense of Apple saying the story is not a recent development.

Among other smartphone manufacturers, Research In Motion (RIMM 14.95, +1.39) remained in the spotlight. On Friday, the stock surged over 15.0% after photos of the new Blackberry 10 handset became available on the internet. Today, Research In Motion settled higher by 10.3%, which puts it 27.0% above Friday's opening price.

Telecom stocks lagged the broader market after morning reports hinted at slowing Apple iPhone demand. The three major carriers which offer the device on their networks traded lower in response to the developments. AT&T (T 34.02, -0.25), Sprint Nextel (S 5.69, -0.23), and Verizon Communications (VZ 42.59, -0.71) saw respective losses of 0.7%, 3.9%, and 1.6%. Note that UBS downgraded Sprint and Verizon to ‘Neutral.' In addition, JPMorgan Chase also downgraded Sprint to ‘Neutral' from ‘Overweight.'

Dell (DELL 12.29, +1.41) was on the move today after Bloomberg TV reported the PC maker is in talks with private equity regarding a potential buyout. Dell surged 13.0% on the news, and several related names moved higher as well. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 16.95, +0.79) and Seagate (STX 33.97, +0.68) saw respective gains of 4.9% and 2.0%.

Discretionary stocks showed relative weakness in early trade, but the sector settled with slim gains. Amazon.com (AMZN 272.73, +4.79) was a notable advancer as the online retailer hit a fresh all-time high of $274.26.

Harry Winston Diamond (HWD 15.08, +0.62) rose by 4.3% after the company agreed to sell its luxury brand diamond jewelry and timepiece division to the Swatch Group for $750 million. In addition, Swatch will assume up to $250 million of pro-forma net debt.

V.F. Corporation (VFC 153.88, +4.88) advanced 3.3% after the company confirmed it has submitted a bid to acquire Billabong International for AUD1.10 per share.

Financials underperformed and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 17.06, -0.05) slipped 0.3%. The financial sector saw notable gains in recent weeks, but last Friday's earnings report from Wells Fargo (WFC 34.77, -0.33) failed to please investors. Though the bank exceeded analyst expectations on the top and the bottom line, a decrease in net interest margins and mortgage originations weighed. Today, the space traded lower with most majors scheduled to reveal their fourth quarter results this week. Looking at individual components, Bank of America (BAC 11.47, -0.16) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 45.88, -0.26) lost 1.4% and 0.6% respectively.

Looking at tomorrow's economic data, December retail sales, retail sales ex-auto, PPI, core PPI, and the January Empire Manufacturing Index will all be reported at 8:30 ET. Lastly, November business inventories will be released at 10:00 ET.DJ30 +18.89 NASDAQ -8.13 SP500 -1.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1153/1.83 bln/1292 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1490/590.5 mln/1497

3:30 pm :

Feb crude oil dipped into negative territory and to a floor session low of $92.95 per barrel in morning action. However, the energy component trended higher for the remainder of pit trade and rallied to a session high of $94.27 per barrel moments before it closed at $94.23 per barrel, or 0.7% higher.
Feb natural gas extended gains for a third consecutive session, trading as high as $3.41 per MMBtu during today's floor trade. Despite a slight sell-off heading into the close, natural gas settled at $3.37 per MMBtu with a 1.2% gain.
Feb gold spent its entire pit session in the black but pulled-back from its session high of $1674.80 per ounce set in early morning action. The yellow metal slid to a session low of $1663.90 per ounce but managed to recover some of the gains as it settled 0.6% higher at $1669.60 per ounce.
Mar silver also traded higher during today's floor session. Although it dipped to a session low of $30.75 per ounce, silver booked a solid 2.4% gain as it closed at $31.14 per ounce, or just below its session high of $30.16 per ounce.

4:16PM Silicon Graphics Japan installs four-screen virtual reality system at Komatsu for construction equipment design and development (SGI) 10.53 -0.07 : Co has installed a four-screen virtual reality system at Komatsu's Ibaraki Plant for the design and development of construction equipment. The four-screen immersive virtual reality system creates a virtual environment in which designers experience how drivers and maintenance personnel actually operate inside the equipment.
4:11PM GSI Technology issues upside Q3 revs guidance (GSIT) 6.11 -0.15 : Co issues upside guidance for Q3 (Dec), sees Q3 (Dec) revs of $17.5 mln vs. $15.50 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, compared to guidance of $15.0 million to $16.0 million that the Company provided early in the third quarter. GSI also reported that direct and indirect sales to its largest customer, Cisco Systems, are expected to be approximately $6.5 million in the third quarter, compared to $4.9 million in the previous quarter. In addition, shipments to military customers were up significantly compared to the prior quarter. The Company cautioned that these results are preliminary and subject to change.

4:09PM FEI adopts group structure to facilitate further growth (FEIC) 57.91 -0.59 : Co today that it is reorganizing the company into a group structure to enable it to efficiently execute its growth strategy. The company will be organized into two groups: an Industry Group, focused on customers making economic decisions to purchase and utilize FEI solutions that improve yield, reduce cost or speed time to market resulting in improved profitability; and a Science Group, focused on customers using FEI solutions to advance research and discovery.

10:12AM Apple gaps down to 11 month low (AAPL) 503.30 -17.00 : Following the 28% Sep-Nov decline AAPL formed a very wide, loose trading over the last two months. Today's aggressive gap down start broke slightly below this range low from Dec (at 501, session low 498) with lateral trade developing thus far. A sustained move above the Dec/Nov lows at 501/505 and last week's range lows at 515 is needed to begin to improve the very short term patterns. Extension target supports, based on the Nov-Jan range, are at 486 and 475 (Click for chart).


8:37AM Ixia raises Q4 guidance (XXIA) 17.66 : Co issues guidance for Q4 (Dec), sees EPS at or slightly above the $0.20-0.22 prior range vs. $0.22 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; raises Q4 (Dec) revs to $123.5-124.5 mln from $118-122 mln vs. $120.56 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Ixia also indicated that it expects fourth quarter combined revenue from its two recent acquisitions, Anue Systems and BreakingPoint Systems, to be in the range of $30 to $31 million, compared with its previously stated guidance of $26 to $28 million. "Ixia delivered an impressive fourth quarter with strong momentum across all of our solutions." Co will report Q4 on Feb 6.

8:01AM Trina Solar obtains rights to develop 50 MW solar project in Gansu (TSL) 5.62 : Co announced that it has obtained approval from the Gansu Provincial Development and Reform Commission to develop a 50 MW grid-connected solar power plant project in Wuwei, Gansu.

6:02AM JA Solar Appoints Executive Chairman Baofang Jin as Chief Executive Office (JASO) 5.59 : Co announces the appointment of Baofang Jin as chief executive officer, effective January 21, 2013. He will replace Dr. Peng Fang, whose three-year term of service will end on January 20, 2013. Mr. Jin has been JA Solar's chairman since May 2005 and executive chairman of the Board of Directors since July 2009.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Robert W. Baird and target was raised to $25 from $21. The Firm notes their channel checks indicate that co is executing very well amidst a challenging macro. They believe the co has emerged stronger post its restructuring efforts, and they see less gross margin downside going forward than experienced in recent years. They don't see software-defined networking as a threat to the traditional corporate business in the near-to-medium term. CSCO is their best large-cap idea for 2013.


10:58 am Tech Sector trading lower by 1.1% following Apple news

The tech sector is trading lower today, behind narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 1.0% lower. Within the chip index, CRUS (-6.7%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.4% lower today, while the QQQ is down 0.9% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.7% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, CSCO (+1.4%) is showing notable strength, while AAPL (-3.3%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings, WBSN (+3.9%) guided higher in conjunction with naming a CEO. XXIA (+5.8%) and AVNW (+8.1%) also raised guidance. In news, Gartner data revealed that HPQ (+2.2%) won back PC market share. Among rumors, AAPL (-3.2%) cut orders from some suppliers for iPhone 5 by half following weak demand, according to reports. Also, VRNT (+7.4%) is in talks to be acquired by NICE (+6.4%) for $1.5 bln, 19% premium, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, CSCO (+1.5%) was upgraded at Baird and William Blair, FB (-2.8%) was upgraded to Buy at Deutsche Bank, FIO (+4.1%) and HPQ (+2.2%) were upgraded at JP Morgan and XLNX (+0.1%) and ADI (+0.9%) were upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. Among downgrades, ARMH (-1.2%) was downgraded to Neutral at Piper Jaffray, EMC (-1.0%) and IBM (-1.2%) were downgraded at JP Morgan, NOK (-3.0%) was downgraded to Underweight at Barclays, MXIM (-2.0%) was downgraded to Neutral at Credit Suisse, JDSU (-1.7%) was downgraded to Neutral at Goldman and S (-3.3%) was downgraded at JP Morgan and UBS. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Equities began the day with a slightly bearish bias after Germany's 2012 GDP was reported below expectations. Though the news weighed at the open, the major averages showed resilience, and spent the remainder of the session climbing off their lows. As a result, the S&P 500 added 0.1% while the Nasdaq underperformed with a loss of 0.2%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was pressured by Apple (AAPL 485.92, -15.83), which fell 3.2%. In addition, Apple suppliers continued to show weakness. Broadcom (BRCM 34.19, -0.43) and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS 20.50, -0.51) saw respective losses of 1.2% and 2.4%. Today's selling followed yesterday's 3.6% drop in Apple resulting from reports which indicated the company has cut its orders for iPhone 5 parts.

Facebook (FB 30.10, -0.85) dropped to its session lows after today's highly-anticipated press event disappointed investors. When the company first announced today's presentation on January 9, Facebook responded by rallying nearly 5.0% in less than a week. The rise was attributed to speculation the company may launch a search engine or its own phone brand. However, at today's event, the company revealed a "graph search" feature.

Business software provider SAP (SAP 77.55, -4.33) also contributed to the weakness in technology. The stock lost 5.3% after the company's operating profit missed expectations. Additionally, SAP lowered its fourth quarter guidance, which also contributed to the selling.

The discretionary sector was the top performer after the December retail sales report beat expectations. Retailers rallied on the news and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 64.54, +1.32) gained 2.1%.

This morning, Lennar (LEN 40.68, -0.34) was the first homebuilder to report its fourth quarter results. The report was generally positive as the company's earnings and revenue exceeded the Capital IQ consensus estimates. In addition, the company expects its full-year 2013 gross margins to be in-line with analyst estimates. Despite the upbeat earnings, Lennar settled lower by 0.8%. It should be noted the stock has added over 36% over the past five months, thus strong quarterly results have been largely priced-in. Other homebuilders showed intraday strength and finished generally higher as Lennar's results were expected to translate into upbeat earnings from its peers.

Financials outperformed the broader market with ten sector components scheduled to report their quarterly results ahead of tomorrow's open. JPMorgan Chase (JPM 46.35, +0.47) was in the news today as the bank was ordered to improve its risk controls following last year's $6.2 billion derivative trading loss. JPMorgan Chase will report its fourth quarter earnings tomorrow and the Capital IQ consensus expects the financials to show year-over-year bottom line growth of 35%. The market will also receive quarterly results from Goldman Sachs (GS 135.59, -0.54) which are expected to show earnings of $3.40 on $7.67 billion in revenue.

Several economic data points crossed the wires today. During November, business inventories rose by 0.3%, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus. Today's reading follows the prior month's uptick of 0.4%.

December retail sales rose by 0.5%, which was better than the 0.2% increase that had been broadly expected. The revised prior month's reading pointed to an increase of 0.4%. Excluding autos, retail sales rose by 0.3%, which was in-line with the Briefing.com consensus.

December producer prices decreased by 0.2%, which was cooler than the unchanged reading that had been widely forecast. Core producer prices rose by 0.1% which was cooler than the uptick of 0.2% expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

The Empire Manufacturing Survey for January registered a reading of -7.8, which was up from the prior month's reading of -8.1. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the Survey would rise to 2.0.

In tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET. December CPI and core CPI will both be released at 8:30 ET. At 9:00 ET, November net long-term TIC flows will hit the wires. December industrial production and capacity utilization will be reported at 9:15 ET while January NAHB Housing Market Index will cross at 10:00 ET. Lastly, the Federal Reserve will release its January Beige Book at 14:00 ET.DJ30 +27.57 NASDAQ -6.72 SP500 +1.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1314/1.81 bln/1142 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1735/603.2 mln/1272

3:30 pm :

Feb crude oil spent most of pit trade chopping around just below the unchanged level. However, prices slid to a session low of $93.22 per barrel moments before the close as the dollar index popped to a new session high. The last minute sell-off left crude to settle with a 1.0% loss at $93.29 per barrel.
Feb natural gas rose for a fourth consecutive session on this week's colder weather across the nation. Prices briefly dipped into the red and to a session low of $3.35 per MMBtu in morning floor action, but the losses were erased moments later. Natural gas trended higher for the remainder of the session and settled 2.7% higher at $3.46 per MMBtu.
Feb gold extended yesterday's gains as it advanced to a floor session high of $1684.90 per ounce despite the dollar index trading slightly above the break-even line. The yellow metal closed the session 0.9% higher at $1683.80 per ounce.
Mar silver also trended higher during today's pit trade. It listed off its session low of $31.12 per ounce and brushed a session high of $31.61 per ounce before settling with a 1.1% gain at $31.49 per ounce.

DJ30 +26.16 NASDAQ -7.16 SP500 +1.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1273/1520 mln/1196 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1620/403 mln/1341

5:26PM Linear Tech misses by $0.02, misses on revs (LLTC) 35.55 -0.24 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.40; revenues rose 3.7% year/year to $305.3 mln vs the $310.33 mln consensus. During the second quarter the Company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities decreased by $20.6 million to $1.299 billion from the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

Ingram Micro (IM) has earned authorization to market, sell and support IBM (IBM) Power Systems and enterprise-class storage product families to certified IBM Business Partners within the U.S.

PTC (PMTC) announced that SRAM is using the PTC Product Lifecycle Management Solution to optimize product strategy and planning across the organization.

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that the Korean Photonics Technology Institute has purchased a GEN20 Molecular Beam Epitaxy system

Atmel (ATML) and Wasion Group have signed a MoU to develop smart electricity meters and data concentrators utilizing integrated power line communication solutions developed by Atmel.

8:04AM Chipmos Technology reports Q4 revs $167.6 mln vs $168.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate (IMOS) 11.52 :

Co reports reports Q4 revs $167.6 mln vs $168.9 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate, down 5.3% from the third quarter of 2012 and an increase of 5.6% from the fourth quarter of 2011.
This compares to guidance for revenue for the fourth quarter of 2012 to be approximately flat to 5% lower, as compared to 3Q12, and reflects further softness in the broader memory market, which impacts the Company's commodity DRAM assembly business, offset by continued growth in its LCD driver and mixed-signal businesses.

HP (HPQ) announced that customers can now print directly from their smartphone or tablet to more than 8,000 U.S. Walgreens (WAG) stores, bringing the HP Public Print Locations network to 30,000 sites worldwide.

Microsemi (MSCC) announced the availability of a new generation of industrial temperature, silicon carbide standard power modules.

Cray (CRAY) has been awarded a $23 mln contract to provide two Cray XC30 supercomputers and two Cray Sonexion 1600 storage systems to Germany's National Meteorological Service - the Deutscher Wetterdienst.

6:30AM Mattson announces plans for Phase IV cost-reduction program (MTSN) 1.21 : Co announced the finalization of plans for Phase IV of its cost-reduction program, which primarily entails a broad reduction in force across all areas of the Company. The total estimated reduction in annual operating expenses for all four phases of the cost-reduction program is expected to be $30 million. Combined with the ongoing gross margin improvement efforts, the Company's cash flow breakeven point is expected to be reduced to the mid to high $20 million quarterly net sales level by the end of Q1 2013.

United Microelectronics (UMC) introduced a Thick Plated Copper process for power management IC applications.

Vishay Intertechnology (VSH) introduced new 8 V and 20 V n-channel and p-channel TrenchFET power MOSFETs with the industry's lowest on-resistance in 1 mm by 1 mm by 0.55 mm and 1.6 mm by 1.6 mm by 0.6 mm CSP MICRO FOOT packages.

1:43AM Apple announces Wi-Fi + Cellular Models of iPad mini & Fourth Generation iPad available in China this Friday (AAPL) 501.75 :

Multi-Fineline (MFLX) issued guidance for the first quarter with raised first quarter revenues to approximately $290 million from $260-280 million versus the $266.90 million consensus; gross margin is expected to be ~8.5%, below the co's 10-12% guidance range, compared to 12.2% for the same period in the prior year. "We had strong operational performance throughout the quarter however toward the end of the quarter, we scaled back production. While this prudent business decision enabled us to successfully manage our working capital, including a reduction in work in process and finished goods inventory and an increase in our cash balance to over $92 million, the idled labor costs and manufacturing capacity were expensed rather than capitalized as inventory. This, coupled with unfavorable product mix, impacted our gross margin. Looking ahead to the second quarter, we expect a seasonal decline in revenue. Although we continue to work on cost improvements, including reduced headcount levels, we also anticipate a sequential decline in gross margin based on the lower anticipated revenues and overhead absorption, resulting in break-even or slightly negative net earnings."
Fiserv (FISV) announced that it has acquired Open Solutions Inc., a provider of collaborative, enterprise core account processing technology for financial institutions. The purchase price was $55 million, and Fiserv assumed approximately $960 million of debt. In conjunction with the acquisition, Fiserv will benefit from an acquired tax asset with a net present value at the time of purchase of approximately $165 million. The company expects to achieve annualized revenue synergies in connection with the acquisition of at least $75 million, and annualized cost synergies in excess of $50 million, over the next several years. The transaction was completed on January 14, 2013. Based on preliminary information, the company anticipates its 2012 adjusted earnings per share to increase approximately 12% over 2011 (vs Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $5.17 or approx +12.9%). The company also anticipates its 2012 adjusted internal revenue growth to be at 2% for the full year (versus the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $4.52 billion or approximately +4.1%). On a preliminary basis for 2013, the company expects adjusted internal revenue growth of 3-4%, and 15-18% adjusted earnings per share growth over 2012. The company will supply its actual results for 2012, and formal guidance for 2013, in its year end conference call on February 5, 2013.

QLogic (QLGC) issued upside guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.19-0.20 versus the $0.17 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate and above prior guidance of $0.14-0.19, and the company sees third quarter revenues of approximately $119 million versus the $115.08 million consensus and above prior guidance of $112-118 million. Co states the preliminary results were driven by higher than expected revenue from Host Products and particularly strong performance from Network Products.

GSI Technology (GSIT) issued upside guidance for the third quarter with revenues of $17.5 million versus the $15.50 million consensus, compared to guidance of $15.0 million to $16.0 million that the Company provided early in the third quarter. GSI also reported that direct and indirect sales to its largest customer, Cisco Systems, are expected to be approximately $6.5 million in the third quarter, compared to $4.9 million in the previous quarter. In addition, shipments to military customers were up significantly compared to the prior quarter. The Company cautioned that these results are preliminary and subject to change.

09:22 am Maxim Integrated upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer; tgt $38: . Oppenheimer upgrades MXIM to Outperform from Perform and sets target price at $38. In its view, this earnings season sets up as the "last cut," and firm sees MXIM as an early cycle leader. In addition, MXIM offers investors a sustained content increase play on smartphone/tablet-a top semiconductor growth vertical. Mgmt has executed well on its integration-focused wireless strategy, and Mobility now makes up close to 40% of sales, led by ~20% customer Samsung.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Major stock market averages started the day on a mixed and uneventful note and that's pretty much how they traded the rest of the day. There were plenty of storylines, which we will introduce shortly, but there just wasn't any conviction on the part of buyers or sellers outside of some individual stock stories.

The broader market's languor has been a familiar site this week. Including today's action, the S&P 500 is basically unchanged since last Friday. That's actually not a bad sign considering the S&P 500 had surged 3.2% in the first two weeks of trading. The sideways action, therefore, is being deemed a consolidation phase by technical analysts and perhaps just a boring phase by the rest of us.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 traded in a six-point range that was skewed mostly to the downside, the bulk of which was seen shortly after the market opened. Some early storylines that triggered the initial downside move included the following:

Weakness in Boeing (BA 74.34, -2.60) after two Japanese carriers suspended their Dreamliner flights due to safety concerns
News that the World Bank cut its 2013 global GDP growth forecast to 2.4% from 3.0%; and
The muted response to a blowout earnings report from Goldman Sachs (GS 141.09, +5.50), which topped the Capital IQ consensus estimate by $1.96, and a better-than-expected earnings report from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 46.82, +0.47), which topped the Capital IQ consensus estimate by twenty cents.

The market soon found its footing, however, when Apple (AAPL 506.09, +20.17) got going in the wake of a bullish call from technical analyst Tom Demark who accurately called the slide in Apple back in September when Apple was trading at $700. Demark's call on CNBC last night was that Apple has bottomed and should run to the $600 area in the next couple of weeks.

Apple's strength was a staying factor for the broader market and triggered the outperformance of the Nasdaq versus the other major averages. Still, in a broader context, everything unfolded in moderation today as the Nasdaq gained just 0.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped just 0.2%.

In a certain respect, market participants were in deliberation mode, showing little reaction to reports of a terrorist attack on a natural gas facility in Algeria that resulted in 41 hostages being taken, including several Americans.

Oil prices increased 1.0% to $94.19 per barrel, garnering added support from an EIA inventory report that showed a draw of 950,000 barrels from last week. Commodities overall traded somewhat mixed, although there was broad-based weakness in the industrial metals that coincided with the World Bank's tempered growth outlook.

Notably, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.40, -0.15) continued its slide, reflecting an ongoing sense that the market isn't going to experience any dramatic moves up or down in the next 30 days. Many observers, though, see the low level of the VIX as a sign of complacency that could be a harbinger of more concerted selling interest for the cash market.

For today, there wasn't much concerted selling interest outside of individual stocks like Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 280.94, -16.38), which issued a fourth quarter earnings warning, or much concerted buying interest for that matter.

Volume at the NYSE totalled 600 mln shares with the last hour producing a good chunk of today's trading volume.

The technology sector (+0.7%) led today's gainers and was followed by the energy (+0.3%) and financial (+0.1%) sectors. On the flip side, the telecom services sector (-1.2%) brought up the rear along with the low-weighted materials (-0.6%) and utilities (-0.5%) sectors.

Treasuries held a bid throughout the day, but ended off their highs. The 10-year note finished up six ticks and its yield dipped to 1.82%.

Today's economic data featured the CPI, Industrial Production, and NAHB Housing Market Index reports. None produced any major surprises, so they were largely overlooked as trading catalysts. The same can be said for the Fed's Beige Book report, which noted all 12 districts are experiencing modest to moderate growth and that fiscal cliff uncertainties were delaying hiring decisions in a number of areas.

Tomorrow's economic lineup includes the Initial Claims, Housing Starts, and Philadelphia Fed Index reports. On the earnings front, financial names will again be in focus with Bank of America (BAC 11.78, +0.23) and Citigroup (C 42.48, -0.09) headlining the reporting activity.DJ30 -23.66 NASDAQ +6.77 SP500 +0.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 985/1.64 bln/1473 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1357/600 mln/1619

3:35 pm :

Feb crude oil rose as high as $94.35 per barrel during today's floor trade on strong inventory data that showed a draw of 951K barrels when a build of 2.25 mln barrels was anticipated. Prices held steady near that level for the remainder of the session, leaving crude to settle with a 1.0% gain at $94.24 per barrel.
Feb natural gas fell for the first time in five sessions ahead of tomorrow's inventory data. Prices dropped to a session low of $3.36 per MMBtu but managed to inch higher in afternoon action. Natural gas eventually settled 0.6% lower at $3.44 per MMBtu.
Feb gold fell for the first time this week, dropping as low as $1674.50 per ounce in early morning floor action. However, the yellow metal managed to erase most of the loss as it trended higher for the remainder of its session and settled nearly flat at $1683.00 per ounce.
Mar silver also trended higher after lifting off its session low of $31.16 per ounce set at pit trade open. Unlike gold, silver broke into positive territory moments before the close and closed at $31.53 per ounce, booking a slight gain of 0.1%.

1:01PM Intel and Facebook (FB) collaborate on future data center rack technologies (INTC) 22.02 +0.14 : Co announced a collaboration with Facebook (FB) to define the next generation of rack technologies used to power the world's largest data centers. As part of the collaboration, the companies also unveiled a mechanical prototype built by Quanta Computer that includes Intel's new, innovative photonic rack architecture to show the total cost, design and reliability improvement potential of a disaggregated rack environment.

7:31AM Research In Motion receives approval from Visa (V) for mobile payment solution (RIMM) 14.47 : Co announced that its Secure Element Manager solution for NFC mobile payments has been approved by Visa (V). RIM's SEM is the backend solution for carriers that can securely manage credentials on SIM cards installed in all types of NFC-capable mobile devices.

TTM Tech (TTMI) announced it expects to report both revenue and earnings per share at or somewhat above the high end of its previous guidance for the fourth quarter of 2012. The company provided fourth quarter guidance of revenue from $360 million to $380 million (vs $366.14 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate), GAAP earnings attributable to stockholders of $0.07 to $0.14 per diluted share and non-GAAP earnings attributable to stockholders of $0.14 to $0.21 per diluted share (vs $0.17 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate). TTM Technologies will announce its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 results after the market closes on February 5, 2013.

Linear Tech (LLTC) reported second quarter earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.40, while revenues rose 3.7% year/year to $305.3 million versus the $310.33 million consensus. During the second quarter the Company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities decreased by $20.6 million to $1.299 billion from the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

ADTRAN (ADTN) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.11 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.09, while, revenues fell 20.3% year/year to $139.76 mln vs the $139.59 mln consensus. Co states: "Our fourth quarter results came in largely as expected with both our carrier and enterprise divisions performing to forecast." WNS (WNS) reported third quarter earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.27, while revenues (non-GAAP) rose 16.8% year/year to $113.5 million versus the $109.26 mln consensus. The company narrowed guidance for fiscal year 2013 with revenues of $437-439 million from prior guidance of $420-440 million versus the $432.53 million consensus. Adjusted gross margin* for the quarter was 34.7%, as compared to 36.3% in Q3 of last year, and 35.5% reported last quarter. "We are pleased with the top line progress made during the quarter, as revenue was positively impacted by the start of several new projects and broad-based growth across verticals, services and geographies. While some of this new project revenue came with higher costs in the short term, we are confident that as the processes and relationships mature, our margins will expand. At a macro level, overall demand for BPO services remains stable and healthy as we enter calendar 2013.."The updated fiscal 2013 guidance is based on current visibility levels and exchange rates. Guidance for the year reflects top line growth of approximately 11%, with over 99% visibility to the midpoint of the range. We will continue to focus on growing revenue and improving operating margin in the fourth quarter and beyond."

Cantor Fitzgerald notes, CREE (CREE) will report its 2Q:FY13 results after the close on January 22. The firm is expecting Cree to report a strong December quarter with results above consensus and in-line with our estimates. They look for continued strength in Lighting Products. They are expecting 3Q:FY13 to be seasonally down, and guidance could be below consensus, primarily due to Street estimates that have not adequately reflected normal seasonality. Beyond the first calendar quarter, they expect continued strengthening in the company's business as streetlights and indoor LED lighting continue to gain momentum.

09:02 am Dell downgraded to Hold at Argus on takeout speculation: . Argus downgrades DELL to Hold from Buy following a spike in the stock price on reports that Dell may be acquired by private equity firms. Dell has not officially commented on the speculation, which drove the shares up 13% on 1/14/13. In its view, DELL will now trade less on the company's operating prospects than on acquisition speculation.

10:51 am Tech Sector is trading higher by +0.6% today
The tech sector is trading higher today, ahead of slight losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 0.7% higher. Within the chip index, CRUS (+4.6%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ is up 0.5% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.2% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+3.6%) is showing notable strength, while GOOG (-0.9%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, LLTC (+0.6%) posted a miss and guided lower, while TTMI (+1.2%) guided at the high end of its previous range. This morning, WNS (+2.3%) reported slighter better-than-expected qtrly results and guidance. In news, CRM (-2.6%) is trading lower attributed to filings from the company in response to SEC comments/questions regarding last year's 10-K filing that was filed on 3/9/2012. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, SNCR (+3.9%) was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. Also, DCM (+1.5%) was added to the Conviction Buy list at Goldman. Among downgrades, VOD (-2.2%) was downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank, ARMH (-0.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS, AAPL (+3.4%) was downgraded to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest, YELP (-3.0%) was downgraded to Under Perform at Northland and ARW (-2.8%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James. EBAY (-0.3%) is the only notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The major averages opened today's session on a strong note after weekly initial claims and housing starts were reported ahead of expectations. Meanwhile, a disappointing Philadelphia Fed Survey was not enough to cool optimism. Key indices spent the duration of the day in a steady upward climb, and the S&P 500 made its biggest advance in more than a week to end higher by 0.6%.

The market saw notable support from homebuilders after December housing starts data indicated the demand for fresh construction projects remains strong. Among individual builders, PulteGroup (PHM 20.37, +1.03) and Lennar (LEN 41.94, +1.42) saw respective gains of 5.3% and 3.5%. Meanwhile, the SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB 28.15, +0.51) settled higher by 1.9%.

While builder shares registered broad gains, Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV 5.95, -0.05) shed 0.8%, and was a notable laggard. In addition, the stock has seen heavy option activity with February $6.00 puts garnering interest.

The strength in homebuilders helped discretionary stocks outperform the remaining S&P 500 sectors. On the downside, financials lagged after Bank of America (BAC 11.28, -0.50) and Citigroup (C 41.24, -1.24) reported earnings which did not please the market. The two lost 4.2% and 2.9% as a result. Though most sector components have already delivered their quarterly results, a handful of names have yet to report. Following today's close, American Express (AXP 60.74, +0.12) will announce its fourth quarter earnings. In addition, the market will receive Morgan Stanley's (MS 20.75, +0.21) report ahead of tomorrow's open.

A familiar storyline was revisited today when morning reports indicated that European authorities along with the Federal Aviation Administration have ordered all Boeing (BA 75.26, +0.26) 787 flights to be halted. Boeing shares sold off on the news, but turned higher after Bloomberg reported that faulty batteries may have been the cause of electrical issues aboard the Dreamliner.

While the market displayed strength all around, Apple (AAPL 502.68, -3.41) did not participate in the rally. The largest tech stock shed 0.7% after yesterday's comments from technical analyst Tom Demark sent the stock higher by 3.0%.

In acquisition news, K-Swiss (KSWS 4.71, +1.52) soared 47.7% after the footwear manufacturer agreed to be acquired by E.Land World for $4.75 per share. The transaction price represents a 49.0% premium to K-Swiss' Wednesday closing price.

Crude oil rose by 1.1% and settled above $95.00 after a hostage situation in Algeria fueled supply concerns.

Another item of note lied in the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.67, +0.25), which added 1.9%. The volatility measure spent the majority of the session in the red before crossing into positive territory during the last hour of trade as the S&P 500 slipped off its highs.

Today's NYSE floor volume was just north of 700 million shares, which lied in-line with its 100-day average.

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the January Michigan Sentiment, which is scheduled for a 9:55 ET release. Among notable earnings, General Electric (GE 21.30, +0.18) and Schlumberger (SLB 73.37, +0.15) will report their quarterly results prior to the opening bell.DJ30 +84.79 NASDAQ +18.46 SP500 +8.31 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1640/1.71 bln/790 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2285/710.0 mln/719

3:30 pm : Feb crude oil advanced steadily on better-than-anticipated initial claims and Dec housing starts data released this morning and on news of a hostage situation at a BP (BP)/Statoil (STO) gas facility in Algeria. Prices rose as high as $96.04 per barrel in afternoon action and settled with a solid 1.3% gain at $95.50 per barrel.

Feb natural gas opened pit trade in negative territory at its session low of $3.40 per MMBtu. However, prices rallied into positive territory following strong inventory data that showed a draw of 148 bcf when a draw of 136 to 137 bcf was anticipated. Natural gas advanced to a session high of $3.53 per MMBtu and settled with a 1.5% gain at $3.49 per MMBtu.

Feb gold slid to a floor session low of $1666.40 per ounce following the bullish economic data. However, the yellow metal gained steam and rallied into positive territory about half hour into the equity market open. It popped again to a session high of $1697.80 per ounce in afternoon action, but a pull-back heading into the close left gold to settle with a 0.4% gain at $1690.50 per ounce.

Mar silver also fell to a pit session low of $31.05 per ounce moments after floor trade opened, and as gold, popped into the black in morning action. It brushed a session high of $31.93 per ounce and eventually settled at $31.82 per ounce, or 0.9% higher. DJ30 +100.01 NASDAQ +18.76 SP500 +9.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1610/1.33 bln/809 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2283/436.2 mln/709

4:32PM Micron amends Inotera Memories joint venture with Nanya Technology Corporation (MU) 7.81 +0.14 : Co announced that it has entered into agreements with Nanya Technology Corporation to amend their joint venture relationship involving Inotera Memories, Inc., a leading Taiwanese DRAM memory manufacturer, and to amend their joint development arrangement. The new agreements are effective immediately. The amendments include a new supply agreement between Micron and Inotera pursuant to which Micron is transitioning to purchase all of Inotera's manufacturing output, with Micron purchasing substantially all of such output beginning in early 2013. Additionally, Nanya will no longer participate in the DRAM technology joint development program with Micron, which was initiated when Micron and Nanya entered into the Inotera joint venture in 2008. Micron will also provide Nanya with a royalty-bearing technology license.

4:25PM Xilinx beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q4 revs below consensus (XLNX) 36.44 +0.24 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.37; revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $509.8 mln vs the $527.33 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs +2-6% QoQ to ~$520-540 mln vs. $545.21 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; with gross margin of ~66%, in-line with ests.

"New Product sales increased 17% sequentially in the December quarter, driven by robust adoption of Kintex-7 and Virtex-6 FPGAs. Strength from New Products is an encouraging sign in the face of macroeconomic conditions that remained challenging during the quarter. Exiting calendar 2012, I believe we have the strongest product portfolio in our history, a generation ahead of the competition. Our 28-nm products have gained significant momentum across a broad base of applications with clear leadership in performance, power and integration. Sales from these product families increased nearly 20% sequentially in the December quarter, exceeding expectations."

4:10PM Intel beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line with upside gross margin; sees FY13 rev growth in the low single digits, ~in-line with upside gross margin (INTC) 22.68 +0.57 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.48 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.45; revenues fell 3.0% year/year to $13.48 bln vs the $13.53 bln consensus. Q4 GAAP gross margin 58% vs guidance of 57% (+/- couple of percentage points)

PC Client Group revenue of $8.5 billion, down 1.5% sequentially and down 6% YoY. Data Center Group revenue of $2.8 billion, up 7% QoQ and up 4% YoY. Other Intel architecture group revenue of $1.0 billion, down 14% sequentially and down 7% year-over-year.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $12.2-13.2 bln vs. $12.93 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 gross margins in the range of 58% +/- vs Street expectations of 56.6%.

Co sees FY13 rev up in the low single digits vs. the +1.9% consensus, with gross margin of 60% plus or minus a few % pts vs. expectations of ~59%.

4:01PM Rainmaker Sys appoints Mallorie Burak Chief Financial Officer (RMKR) 0.93 -0.00 : Co announced that Mallorie Burak, 42, has been appointed as the Company's Chief Financial Officer, effective January 24, 2013. Ms. Burak most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Foodlink Holdings, Inc. from August 2012 to January 2013. Prior to Foodlink, Ms. Burak held the roles of Vice President of Finance and Corporate Secretary, as well as Acting CFO, of Southwall Technologies Inc. from September 2007 to July 2012. Ms. Burak holds an MBA and B.S. in Business Administration from San Jose State University.

9:04AM Agilent authorizes repurchase of up to $500 million of the company's common stock during fiscal 2013; increases quarterly dividend 20% to $0.12 per share from $0.10 per share (A) 43.05 : The new repurchase authorization replaces Agilent's existing stock repurchase program, which authorized the repurchase of shares to reduce or eliminate share dilution from equity programs.

Trina Solar (TSL) has supplied PV modules totaling 61MW for the Green Tower project in the German federal state of Brandenburg.

4:35AM Taiwan Semi reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus (TSM) 17.80 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.61 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of NT$1.61; revenues rose 25.4% year/year to NT$131.31 bln vs the NT$131.39 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of NT$127-129 bln vs. NT$123.73 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Q4 Highlights:

Gross margin for the quarter was 47.2%, operating margin was 35.2%, and net margin was 31.7%.
Shipments of 28-nanometer process technology reached 22% of total wafer revenues. 40-nanometer accounted for 22% of total wafer revenues, and 65-nanometer was 19%.
These advanced technologies accounted for 63% of total wafer revenues.

Q1 guidance assumptions

Gross profit margin is expected to be between 43.5% and 45.5%
Operating profit margin is expected to be between 31.5% and 33.5%
TSMC further expects the capital expenditures for 2013 to be about $9 bln.

Plexus (PLXS) reported first quarter earnings of $0.47 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ consensus Estimate of $0.48. Co lowered EPS guidance to $0.45-0.47 from $0.50-0.55 on Jan 7, while revenues rose 0.2% year/year to $530.5 million versus the $542.33 mln consensus -- co lowered revenue guidance to $531 million from $550-580 mln. The company issued in-line guidance for the second quarter, sees EPS of $0.50-0.55, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.51 consensus and revenues of $550-580 million versus the $559.49 million consensus. "Relative to our original expectations, manufacturing demand softened across all of our sectors during the quarter, particularly for our Networking/Communications sector in the final few weeks."

eBay (EBAY) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.70 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus Estimate of $0.69, while revenues rose 18% year/year to $3.99 billion versus the $3.98 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the first quarter with EPS of $0.60-0.62, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.63 consensus, sees Q1 revs of $3.65-3.75 billion versus the $3.8 billion consensus. The company issued in-line guidance for fiscal year 2013 with EPS of $2.70-2.75, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $2.75 consensus and sees revenues of $16.0-16.5 billion versus the $16.31 billion consensus. The company's PayPal business continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal's active account growth accelerated to 15% and ended the year with ~123 mln registered accounts. PayPal added nearly 2 million accounts a month in the fourth quarter, representing the company's fastest active account growth rate in years. PayPal Q4 net total payment volume +24% vs +20% in Q3. The company's Marketplaces business delivered a record $2 billion revenue in the fourth quarter, propelled by strong performance in the U.S. Revenue for the full year was driven by continued investments in the customer experience and efforts to bring the world's inventory to global buyers. Active user growth accelerated two points to 12%, driven by mobile, site enhancements designed to streamline the shopping experience on eBay and emerging markets. Fixed price GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 21% and contributed to a 16% increase in GMV, excluding vehicles. U.S. GMV growth, excluding vehicles, accelerated three points to 19%. Mobile commerce volume in 2012 grew more than 120% to $13 billion driven primarily by increased adoption of eBay's mobile apps and increased engagement from product innovation. eBay's suite of mobile apps attracted more than 4 million new customers in 2012.

11:05 am S&P Information Technology index trading +0.3% and ahead of broader market
The tech sector is trading higher today, inline with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength, however, with the SOX trading 1.3% higher. Within the chip index, KLAC (+5.4%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.5% higher today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.4% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, TXN (+1.4%) is showing notable strength, while CSCO (-0.6%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, EBAY (+2.6%) posted slightly better-than-expected Q4 results and guided just below consensus. Meanwhile, PLXS (+1.4%) and ASML (+6.4%) reported results in-line with expectations, whereas NTCT (-4.4%) topped consensus and APH (0.0%) missed estimates. In news, A (+1.7%) authorized the repurchase of up to $500 mln of stock and increased its quarterly dividend 20% to $0.12 per share from $0.10 per share. Among rumors, Silver Lake is close to $15 bln financing for DELL (+1.2%) LBO, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, JNPR (+1.6%) and INFN (+6.4%) were upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan, ADTN (-4.6%) was upgraded to Neutral at Citigroup, and ASML (+6.5%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, ITRI (-1.4%) was downgraded to Hold at Jefferies, SAP (-0.6%) was downgraded to Neutral at Citigroup, CSCO (-0.7%) was downgraded to Underweight at JP Morgan, INFA (-2.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Wedbush, LEAP (-6.3%) was downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies and RBC downgraded GLW (-1.4%) to Sector Perform. INTC (+1.1%), XLNX (+1.1%), and WIT (+2.2%) are the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

[ReturntoSender]

InvestmentHouse Weekend Market Summary

http://www.investmenthouse.com/weekendmarketsummary.htm

-Stocks extend gains into the long weekend.
- A sense of economic recovery even as earnings, economic data remain at best mixed.
- January preliminary Michigan Sentiment continues . . . Decembers dive.
- But at least China is on the mend. Can't trust it as CAT found out, but on the mend.
- Europe is shockingly bad.
- Fed truly had no clue in 2007, showing it has always been, and always shall be, reactionary. Well, not always; Geithner leak to banks of Fed action was proactive. And illegal.
- After a big week of inflows a big week of outflows takes it all back.
- Indices punching new highs so many naturally wringing their hands over another market bubble. Never made any money wringing my hands.
- Good rally to start earnings. Riding the wave, taking some gain, watching for the change in sentiment.

A continued ramp higher as earnings announcements surge, sporting mixed results.

When the market wants to move it moves regardless of the news. News can drive the action for sure. There are times, however, the market puts its head down and rallies even with less than great news. Sure all news eventually catches up with the market, but if a story is not immediately threatening, it can be ignored until a later time when the desire to rally ebbs.

Thus even though earnings are very much mixed (GE, MS beat nicely while INTC, AXP miss badly) and the economic data is shockingly mixed 4 years into a 'recovery,' stocks have it in their mind to continue the rally off the mid-November low. More than that they are breaking to new post-bear market highs.

It appears that once again a sense of economic recovery is present and helping drive stocks higher. Not to mention $85B/month from the Fed, and as we learned at the end of the week, some repo liquidity injections from the Fed as the regional manufacturing report misses were released.

It is a sense of recovery given the jobless claims dove lower from their 370Kish levels as well as improvement in housing numbers. Recall there was a sense of recovery in early 2011 and early 2012. Recall that both times the data did not really support the 'hope springs eternal' sentiments of a populace tired of facing bad economic action. Recall last week we showed Goldman Sach's chart detailing how the economic data reported is setting up exactly as it did the prior two years. Add onto that the 'just in case' excuses for poor economic performance in the future: Storm Sandy, Fiscal Cliff, the US Flu.

Sure there are those who believe, just as in early 2011 and just as in early 2012, that the economy is going to recover this time. It can and I hope it does. There are signs housing has bottomed and is trying to improve. Some on CNBC are talking about how strong our big corporations are . . . just as they did in 2011 and 2012. Yes they are making money; they are the only ones doing so. They are still not hiring, still not spending. Query: WHY ON EARTH hire anyone unless you simply cannot conduct business without the hire, if you have to buy a hefty priced insurance policy for them OR pay a hefty fine if you don't? Indeed, many of the big names, as seen the past two weeks, are back to laying off the hired help.

But . . . not hiring helps the bottom line, and the results thus far are good enough for a market that wants to rally and a Fed doing what it can to help that rally and further create that wealth effect it wants. Funny, the big companies have made billions in profits as a result of Fed and Administration policies, yet there is not much of a wealth effect. There is that first of the year hope by many that things will get better, but without substance that hope has faded the prior two years. At least the big names are keeping their money and THEY feel wealthy and their actions help the US economy limp along at 1.5% to 2% economic growth. That, coupled with the Fed liquidity, is enough to keep the stock market rallying as the action shows.

Indeed, Friday SP500, RUTX, SP400 all moved to new post-bear market highs. DJ30 moved to a closing high though just missed a new post-bear market high of its own. SOX faded Friday thanks to INTC's devolution, but it made an important move on the week, breaking through the August and September twin peaks. All in all another strong market week as the indices, without the help of many big name NASDAQ stocks, forge higher in the new year.

SP400 5.04, 0.34%
NASDAQ -1.29, -0.04%
DJ30 53.68, 0.39%
SP400 0.27%
RUTX 0.27%
SOX -0.46%

OTHER MARKETS

Dollar: 1.3321 versus 1.3376 versus euro. The dollar recovered some ground lost the prior week, making it to the 50 day EMA it gapped below two Fridays back. The dollar is chopping around below the 200 day SMA, the November and the early January high. It is trying to get out of a right shoulder to a year long head and shoulders pattern. Maybe it pulls off the recovery but the pattern is quite bearish. I was watching an old favorite show from 1974, 'The Eiger Sanction' with Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Jack Cassidy and others. Eastwood played your typical college professor/mountain climber/black market art buyer/assassin. A Pissarro is offered to him for $10,000. It was black market, but that still seemed very inexpensive by today's standards. I am told that the painting today would go for $1M to $4M and Pissarro is considered undervalued at those prices given his importance to the impressionists.

The point: The dollar has lost HUGE value post-Volker (he was Fed chairman during the early Reagan years) as the Fed started, first in the early 1970's with the monetization of the oil crisis and then with Greenspan after Volker left, to print money at each economic bump. Our dollar is worth so little today compared to just 35 years ago and the Fed is still printing each month.

Bonds: 1.84% versus 1.88% 10 year Treasury. Bounced right back up after tanking on Thursday. All over the map as bond investors try to figure out what the Fed is doing with its repos, etc., and frankly the bond market is just tangentially driven by the whims of investors outside the Fed.

Gold: 1687.40, -3.40. A good week for gold and indeed a good two weeks, but all it could do was make the 50 day EMA. It has failed here the prior three attempts, and Thursday and Friday it was bumping the 50 day EMA and failed to hold breaks through it. Hanging in and still a good overall upside pattern.

Oil: 95.56, +0.07. Oil cleared resistance to start the year, drifted higher, and started to ramp Thursday and Friday. Now at the August 2012 interim high just before the September peak at 100. Perception of China recovery, weaker US dollar, stronger oil.

THE NEWS

January Michigan Sentiment an encore of December's weakness.

Michigan Sentiment, Preliminary January (9:55): 71.3 actual versus 75.0 expected, 72.9 prior

What is going on in Michigan? Auto industry rebirth. Center of the nation's recovery? I know, it is not just Michigan citizens in the survey, but it is fun to style it so. The facts are not fun, however.

Biggest miss in 7 years.

Lowest reading since November 2011.

Holding the losses after plummeting the prior month. Where is the enthusiasm at the start of our President's new term? Hope may be a good thing, but it only goes so far.

But China is there to rescue our export economy.

Friday China's GDP was reported at 7.9%, topping the 7.6% expected. Industrial production topped expectations as well. Surely all is well. Surely we can trust China now that everyone challenged its results. It will now be forced to report clean numbers. You bet.

Export data questioned, loan creation virtually at a standstill. Empty cities. New buildings, never occupied, crumbling and falling down. Not exactly Great Wall quality.

The stock market has rallied 19.5% since early December, topping the 15% failed rally in early 2012, the last significant upside move. It looks as if it has turned though still well below the downtrend's down trendline. A darn good turn, however.

But, ask CAT about Chinese trustworthiness (as you ask yourself about CAT's due diligence). After hours Friday CAT warned that a company it bought in China was basically a total write off, cutting half off of CAT's Q4 earnings. Why? In a Hewlett-Packard like move, it appears CAT bought a basically worthless company that supposedly engaged in systematic year after year lying about its results. It is taking a $580M charge. If it is not Chinese hackers, Chinese spies here on visas, it is, apparently, intentional fraud. Oh, but you can still believe China's economic numbers.

EU Data gets worse and worse.

Remember the move 'Armageddon' when Bruce Willis' drilling crew was given a physical by NASA? Bear, played by the sadly now deceased Michael Clarke Duncan, was given his test results: "Your triglycerides are high and your bad cholesterol is shockingly bad."

Well, the EU data is not just bad, it is shockingly bad. It continues to top expectations . . . to the downside. Seems economists still think things are as bad as they can get. They are not.

Friday more bad news on a week of bad news. Spain's Industrial Orders -1.5% versus +2.5% same time last year. Italy chimed in with -0.5% versus +2.0% expected. How the heck they came up with POSITIVE expectations is a bit nutty itself, but it is just another case of hope disconnected from reality.

Any wonder why Germany wants its hands on its gold?

Geithner tips off banks of Fed action back in 2007?

After the Fed released its August 2007 conference call transcript along with a lot of other Fed transcripts, some shocking stories are coming out. The most shocking: outgoing Treasury Secretary Geithner, while on the FOMC and the New York Fed President, tipped off large banks of the initial Fed action the day before the action was taken.

According to the transcripts, all on the Fed agreed that the action should be kept quiet and the banks not told ahead of time. Geithner even said as much on the record.

But on 8/16 as the market was diving in its second SP500 30 point loss in short order, suddenly at 2:00ET futures rallied and SP500 surged 50 points in one hour. After the market close the Fed had another teleconference before the next day when the Fed would announced its action. That transcript reveals the following exchange:

Mr. Lacker: Vice Chairman Geithner, did you say that [the banks] are unaware of what we're considering or what we might be doing with the discount rate?

Vice Chairman Geithner: Yes.

Mr. Lacker: Vice Chairman Geithner, I spoke with Ken Lewis, President and CEO of Bank of America, this afternoon, and he said that he appreciated what Tim Geithner was arranging by way of changes in the discount facility. So my information is different from that.

Late last week as the NYT and other papers carried the story, Lacker told the NYT "my understanding was that President Geithner had discussed a reduction in the discount rate with these banks in connection with these initiatives."

How much did he make off of his apparent tip to top bankers?

This is incredible. It was not enough that we had to bail out the banks but our trusted officials who you would think have a fiduciary duty to the citizen's they are supposedly acting for tips them off to Fed action ahead of everyone else. Oh yes, the market surged when the announcement was made, giving those who got in, and they got in big, the afternoon before made an even bigger killing.

How screwed up are we now? Do you think this is isolated to the Fed. Congress, the executive branch, countless agencies and departments with millions of employees. And we cannot find ONE DIME TO CUT FROM THE BUDGET for waste or fraud? Unbelievable.

So much for the inflows.

Well, I guess it is fitting, then that the record inflows from two weeks back into stock funds was mostly bank deposits; that is what we are hearing. To add insult, the past week the inflows reversed to $4.2B in outflows. The net that went into US stock funds: $286M.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

Internals.

NASDAQ
Stats: -1.29 points (-0.04%) to close at 3134.71
Volume: 1.865B (+7.25%)

Up Volume: 957.36M (-352.64M)
Down Volume: 820.92M (+404.73M)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Advancers led 1.1 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 2 to 1

New Highs: 150 (-9)
New Lows: 8 (-1)

S&P
Stats: +5.04 points (+0.34%) to close at 1485.98
NYSE Volume: 941M (+46.57%)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Advancers led 1.84 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 3 to 1

New Highs: 516 (-88)
New Lows: 46 (-11)

Dow
Stats: +53.68 points (+0.39%) to close at 13649.7

THE CHARTS

SP500. Putting a bit more emphatic stamp on the break to a new post-bear market high. Volume surged, but it was expiration so take that for what it is worth. At this point we enjoy the ride higher. Note MACD still lags; just note it and watch how the financials are working as the week wears on.

NASDAQ. Could not join the party, but it did fill the Thursday gap higher and recovering to flat. 3175 is next resistance then the post-bear market high at 3197, just 63 points away.

Russell 2000/SP400. New high here as well. Funds still engaged in the January effect.

SP400 midcaps showed the same action as the small caps, solidifying the break to a new high and a subsequent rally.

SOX. Faded on the day but just testing the Wednesday and Thursday run past the August and September peaks. Solid still and frankly down because if INTC.

DJ30/DJ20. Moved to a new closing high post-bear market and is just 12 points higher. MACD is rising and could take out that at the September peak. We will see. Not bad action, after all, given INTC.

DJ20. Sold early in the day, but yes another new high.

Summary: NASDAQ remains a laggard but just about everything else, including many tech stocks, are rallying through old resistance. Money is moving into the market still, big investors are happy enough with earnings, and continued liquidity does not hurt. Riding the run for now, watching to see if signs of a midseason earnings sentiment shift starts developing.

LEADERSHIP

Big names. AAPL was down a bit more but clinging to 500; indeed closing at 500 on the button. GOOG is broke below the 50 day EMA; earnings are Tuesday. Thought about a new play, may still do it, but might get a better setup after as it could put in a double bottom at the 200 day SMA or something like that. EBAY held the Thursday gap; that is about all.

Financial. Back to the upside, at least for the most part. MS gapped up on huge earnings. GS was strong again. BAC is still testing but it is setting up a nice consolidation.

Drugs/Medical. Still mixed as some of the big movers early in the week gave more back, e.g. ARNA. SNSS looks as if it wants to join the party now. BMRN was still great.

Retail. BONT ran again. COH is putting in gains. CHS is trading in a range, recovering last week. WSM didn't recover from its gap lower.

Industrial machines. CMI working well. CAT getting slaughtered Friday; well, it was down 1.5 points.

THE MARKET

SENTIMENT INDICATORS

VIX: 12.46; -1.11
VXN: 14.17; -0.9
VXO: 12.14; -1.28

Put/Call Ratio (CBOE): 0.75; -0.04

Bulls versus Bears

Bulls: 51.1% versus 47.8% versus 46.8% versus 45.7% versus 43.6% versus 39.3% versus 37.2% versus 38.3% versus 43.6 versus 41.5% versus 45.7% . On the run and heading toward that September peak that preceded a market decline. Still quite similar to the pattern in September when the market started a two month selloff, so bears watching. Background: Undercut 35%, the threshold for bullishness, in early June. As noted, hit 34% in early June. It did its job and the market is on the rally. Hard drop to 34 from 39.3% as economic reality and a choppy stock market hit. Off the 55+ level hit in late February. That was the highest level since April and May of 2011, the peak of the post-bear market high. 35% is the threshold level suggesting bullishness. To be seriously bearish it needs to get up to the 60% to 65% level.

Bears: 23.4% versus 24.5% versus 24.5% versus 23.4% versus 25.5% versus 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 28.7% versus 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 25.5%. Fading but not cutting into new ground on the downside, matching the low set four weeks back. As with the bulls, it bears watching. Over 35% is the threshold to be really be a good upside indicator. For reference, bearishness hit a 5 year high at 54.4% the last week of October 2008. The move over 50 took bearish sentiment to its highest level since 1995. Extreme negative sentiment. Prior levels for comparison: Bearishness peaked at 37.4% in September 2007. It topped the June 2006 peak (36%) on that run. That June peak eclipsed the March 2006 high (33%) and well above the 2005 highs that spawned new rallies (30% in May 2005, 29.2% in October 2005). That was a huge turn, unlike any seen in recent history.

TUESDAY

Monday is a MLK holiday. Closed.

There are two schools out there. Those wringing their hands over another bubble, this one in the market. New highs ALWAYS bring out this crowd. Sure there are economic issues, sure many citizens in the country still don't have any money to invest, and it sure doesn't look as if things will get any better.

But I can say I never made money wringing my hands over what others or I was worried about. The funds have money, the institutions have free Fed money, and that is being put to work. Maybe they are all buying assets that will plunge in value. If that happens we will see indications of that ahead of time. For now, as William O'Neil once famously said, if the market wants yellow dresses versus perhaps better made red dresses, don't fight it, go with the yellow dresses. That is a gross paraphrase but it clearly states the point: if the big money is buying, find what they are buying and get to the counter.

Thus even with the indices hitting new post-bear market highs, indeed in part because they are, we will continue to look for more upside as it presents itself. As long as there is leadership in position to run the rally has life. The key for us and new plays to enter is finding stocks that are still in position to move higher versus extended and needing a rest. There are both kinds out there, and we found some solid ones for next week.

Earnings make things a bit more dicey. We like playing after earnings, but we also have plays that can make us good money before their results are announced in February or March. We are looking at both now and as more reports are made we will have more of the post-earnings plays to make.

Earnings not only matter as to the stock's immediate reaction, but also in the market's overall move. Thus far the buyers willingly overlook any issues with earnings results; they want to rally stocks. Often the initial earnings move gets reversed at some point or at least sold some. An eye has to be kept on any changes in the market, i.e. if stocks start to falter overall even as some decent results are announced. Another layer to earnings season making it all the more touchy.

For this week there are some more plays we really like that we will look at for entries. If the market continues the run we will still look to take some gain. New highs on the indices beg to take some gain, and on a further push take some more gains, banking part of the profits on the plays because we know there will be a pullback, either just to test or something more virulent if sentiment turns over.

Have a great weekend!

Support and resistance

NASDAQ: Closed at 3134.71

Resistance:
3171 is the October intraday high
3197 is the September 2012 post-bear market high
3227 is the April 2000 intraday low
3401 is the May 2000 closing low

Support:
3134 is the March 2012 post-bear market peak
The 10 day EMA at 3112
3104-3112 from August and mid-October peaks.
3101 is the August 2012 high
3090 is the mid-March interim high
3076 is the late April 2012 high
3062 is the December 2012 prior peak
The 2011 up trendline at 3057
3042 from 5/2000 low and several other price points
The 50 day EMA at 3046
3024 is the gap point from early May
3000 is the February 2012 post-bear market high
2999 is the bottom of the August 2012 consolidation
The 200 day SMA at 2992
2988 is the July 2012 high
2977 to 2980 is the bottom of the late October 2012 consolidation, July 2012 peak
2962 is the April 2012 low
2950 is the mid-April closing low
2942 is the mid-June 2012 high
2900 is the March 2012 intraday low
2858 is the late July 2011 peak
2847 is the mid-May 2012 low
2838 from the July 2012 lows

S&P 500: Closed at 1485.98

Resistance:
1499 from January 2008
1539 from June 2007

Support:
1475 is the September 2012 high
1471 is the October 2012 intraday high
The 10 day EMA at 1470
1466 is the September 2012 closing peak and rally closing high
1441 is a short term down TL from the September 2012 peak
1440 from November 2007 closing lows
The 50 day EMA at 1438
1434 from early November 2012
1433 from August 2007 closing lows
1427 is the August 2012 peak
1425 from May 2008 closing highs and the October 2012 low
1408 is the late October 2012 range closing low
1406 is the early May 2012 peak
1402.22 - 1400 is the closing low of the August 2012 lateral consolidation
The 200 day SMA at 1394
1378 is the February 2012 peak
1375 is the early July 2012 peak
1371 is the May 2011 peak, the post-bear market high
1363.46 is June 2012 high
1359 is the April 2012 low
1357 is the July 2011 peak
1344 is the February 2011 peak
1340 is the early April 2011 peak
1332 is the early March 2011 peak

Dow: Closed at 13,649.70

Resistance:
13,557 to 13,662
13,653 is the September 2012 high
13662 is the October 2012 intraday high
13,668 from 12-2007 peak
13,692 from 6-2007 peak
14,022 from 7-07 peak

Support:
The 10 day EMA at 13,497
13,413 from the late September 2012 low
13,300 to 13,331 is the August 2012 post-bear market high
13,297 is the April 2012, prior post bear market high
The 50 day EMA at 13,260
13,058 from the May 2008 peak on that bounce in the selling
13,056 is the February 2012 high
The 200 day SMA at 13,033
12,716 is the April 2012 closing low
12,524 is a range of support from early 2012 and summertime 2012
12,391 is the February 2011 peak
12,369 is the left shoulder low from May 2012
12,284 is the October 2011 peak
12,258 is the December 2011 peak
12,110 from the March 2007 closing low
12,094 is the April 2011 low
12,035 is the June 2012 base low
The June 2011 low at 11,897 (closing)
11,734 from 11-98 peak
11,717 is the late August 2011 peak

Economic Calendar

January 18 - Friday
- Michigan Sentiment, January (9:55): 71.3 actual versus 75.0 expected, 72.9 prior

January 22 - Tuesday
- Existing Home Sales, December (10:00): 5.10M expected, 5.04M prior

January 23 - Wednesday
- MBA Mortgage Index, 01/19 (7:00): 15.2% prior
- MBA Mortgage Purchas, 01/19 (7:00)
- FHFA Housing Price I, November (9:00): 0.5% prior

January 24 - Thursday
- Initial Claims, 01/19 (8:30): 355K expected, 335K prior
- Continuing Claims, 01/12 (8:30): 3200K expected, 3214K prior
- Leading Indicators, December (10:00): 0.5% expected, -0.2% prior
- Natural Gas Inventor, 01/19 (10:30): -148 bcf prior
- Crude Inventories, 01/19 (11:00): -0.951M prior

January 25 - Friday
- New Home Sales, December (10:00): 387K expected, 377K prior

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities managed to finish today's session with slim gains despite a mid-morning stumble. The S&P 500 and Dow were able to overcome the early weakness thanks in part to upbeat earnings from major sector components.

The 30-stock Dow Jones led the way as earnings from DuPont (DD 47.82, +0.83), Travelers (TRV 77.95, +1.64), and Verizon Communications (VZ 42.94, +0.40) contributed to the outperformance. Though Verizon missed on the bottom line, its stock added 0.9%.

In other earnings of note, Delta Air Lines (DAL 14.01, +0.40) gained 2.9% on the back of an in-line report. Note that Delta, along with its rivals, has soared over 30% since the start of December. The advance has been notable as crude oil gained nearly $10 in the same timeframe.

As the S&P 500 and Dow pushed to fresh highs, the Nasdaq was more deliberate in its climb off session lows. Semiconductor manufacturers weighed on the index and the PHLX Semiconductor Index slipped 0.3%. The cautious trade preceded earnings announcements from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 2.45, -0.01) and Texas Instruments (TXN 33.46, -0.06). The market will receive quarterly reports from the two semiconductor producers after today's close.

Additionally, two major tech names, Google (GOOG 702.87, -1.64) and International Business Machines (IBM 169.08, +1.61), will also reveal their earnings after the closing bell.

While earnings contributed to today's gains, the market also received some headlines from Washington. Midday reports indicated the White House would welcome a three-month debt ceiling extension. This comes as the House of Representatives prepares to vote on a temporary extension tomorrow.

Among stocks moving on news, Boeing (BA 41.16, -0.88) shed 1.2% after Reuters reported that electrical issues with the Dreamliner were not caused by faulty batteries as previously thought. Elsewhere, Caterpillar (CAT 97.72, +0.10) saw little change following the discovery of accounting misconduct at its Chinese subsidiary. As a result of the discovery, Caterpillar will take a fourth quarter non-cash charge of approximately $580 million.

Crude oil climbed steadily throughout the session and ended higher by 0.7%. The energy component settled at $96.68.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 12.57, +0.22) advanced 0.9%, but the near-term volatility measure remained at its multi-year low.

Floor volume at the New York Stock Exchange was in-line with the 50-day average as 700 million shares changed hands during today's session.

Today's lone economic data point was the December existing home sales report which pointed to an annualized rate of 4.94 million units, weaker than the rate of 5.10 million units that had been generally expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The pace for December was down from the prior month's revised rate of 4.99 million units. Looking at tomorrow's economic releases, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET while the November FHFA Housing Price Index will cross the wires at 9:00 ET. In notable earnings, McDonald's (MCD 92.95, +0.69) will announce its fourth quarter results ahead of the opening bell.DJ30 +62.43 NASDAQ +8.47 SP500 +6.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1539/1.73 bln/927 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2097/699.9 mln/929

3:30 pm : Mar crude oil lifted off its session low of $95.97 per barrel set in morning floor action and trended higher for the remainder of the session as the dollar index remained in negative territory. The energy component eventually settled with a gain of 0.7% at $96.69 per barrel, which was slightly below its session high of $96.89 per barrel.

Feb natural gas fell into the red and to a session low of $3.51 per MMBtu but managed to recover into the black in afternoon pit trade. Although it traded as high as $3.59 per MMBtu, natural gas gave up the gains and closed 0.3% lower at $3.56 per MMBtu.

Feb gold advanced to a pit session high of $1695.90 per ounce after trading as low as $1686.30 per ounce in morning action. The yellow metal pulled-back slightly as it headed into the close and settled at $1693.10 per ounce, or 0.3% higher.

Mar silver came off its session low of $31.87 per ounce set in morning action and advanced to a session high of $32.24 per ounce. It traded in a consolidative pattern just below that level in afternoon action and settled 0.8% higher at 32.17 per ounce. DJ30 +47.78 NASDAQ +1.51 SP500 +4.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1435/1.41 bln/1037 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1927/451.9 mln/1060

4:31PM O2Micro granted patent for Converter Controller Architecture (OIIM) 3.10 -0.06 : Co announced that it was issued 14 claims under United States patent number 8,289,731 for its Power Converter Controller architecture. O2Micro's patented architecture regulates power supplies without cost concerns or stability issues compared to conventional designs.

4:21PM Super Micro Computer beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (SMCI) 10.52 +0.17 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.14; revenues rose 16.6% year/year to $291.5 mln vs the $280.13 mln consensus. Gross margin and non-GAAP gross margin for the second quarter were each 13.8% compared to 17.1% in the same period a year ago. Non-GAAP gross margin was 13.0% for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013.

Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.17-0.21, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.15 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $275-295 mln vs. $269.82 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:20PM Volterra Semi announces acquisition of Element Energy; financial terms not disclosed (VLTR) 16.77 +0.03 : Element Energy is a "startup with technology that significantly improves the performance, lifetime, reliability and cost of large battery packs used in a wide range of applications including stationary and renewable energy storage and hybrid and electric vehicles."

4:20PM Advanced Micro beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs below consensus (AMD) 2.45 -0.01 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.19); revenues fell 31.7% year/year to $1.16 bln vs the $1.15 bln consensus.

Computing Solutions segment revenue decreased 11% sequentially and 37% year-over-year. The sequential and year-over-year decreases were primarily driven by lower microprocessor unit volume shipments. Graphics segment revenue decreased 5% sequentially and 15% year-over-year. Graphics processor unit (GPU) revenue decreased sequentially and year-over-year due to lower unit volume shipments.

Non-GAAP gross margin 39%

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs -6 to -12% QoQ to ~$1.016-1.086 bln vs. $1.11 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:15PM IBM beats by $0.14, reports revs in-line; guides FY13 EPS above consensus (IBM) 196.08 +1.61 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $5.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $5.25; revenues fell 0.6% year/year to $29.3 bln vs the $29.09 bln consensus; flat adjusting for currency; up 1% excluding divested RSS business adjusting for currency.

Free cash flow of $9.5 billion, up $0.6 billion;
Software revenue up 3%, up 4% adjusting for currency;
Services revenue down 2%, down 1% adjusting for currency;
Services backlog of $140 billion, flat, up $1 billion adjusting for currency;
Systems and Technology revenue down 1%, up 4% excluding RSS: System z mainframe up 56%

By region:

The Americas' fourth-quarter revenues were $12.5 billion, flat (up 1%, adjusting for currency) from the 2011 period.
Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $9.1 billion, down 5% (down 3%, adjusting for currency).
Asia-Pacific revenues increased 4% (up 5%, adjusting for currency) to $7.0 billion.
OEM revenues were $679 million, down 5% compared with the 2011 fourth quarter.
Revenues from the co's growth markets increased 7%. Revenues in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - increased 11% (up 14%, adjusting for currency).

Co issues upside guidance for FY13, sees EPS of at least $16.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $16.63 Capital IQ Consensus.

4:15PM Volterra Semi beats by $0.02, beats on revs (VLTR) 16.77 +0.03 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.26; revenues rose 3.9% year/year to $40.3 mln vs the $39.41 mln consensus.

4:05PM RF Micro Device beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (RFMD) : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues rose 20.3% year/year to $271.2 mln vs the $245.73 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.04-0.05 vs. $0.04 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $250-255 mln vs. $227.92 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "RFMD's December quarterly revenue increased by 29% quarter-over-quarter and supported a near tripling in non-GAAP operating income quarter-over-quarter to $26.8 million. On the balance sheet, RFMD generated $43.3 million in cash flow from operations during the December quarter, versus $1.9 million in the prior quarter, nearly offsetting the purchase in November of Amalfi Semiconductor. In the March quarter, we expect our ability to capture an increasing amount of semiconductor content within smart devices and reference designs will enable RFMD to outperform normal seasonality in the March quarter."

4:05PM Cree beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (CREE) 33.47 -0.29 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.30; revenues rose 13.9% year/year to $346.3 mln vs the $331.06 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.30-0.35, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.28 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $325-345 mln vs. $322.21 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Fiscal Q2 was another strong quarter with record revenue and earnings per share that were higher than our target range due to stronger sales in both LEDs and Lighting combined with improved gross margins...Overall company backlog is in line with seasonal trends for our fiscal Q3. Longer term, we remain focused on driving adoption through innovation, and with our broad understanding of the technology levers from materials through systems, we see opportunities to move the market even faster than what has been experienced to date."

For its third quarter of fiscal 2013 ending March 31, 2013, Cree targets GAAP gross margin targeted to be similar to Q2 and non-GAAP gross margin targeted to be 39.5%+/-.

12:47PM LDK Solar signs share purchase agreement with Fulai Investment (LDK) 1.89 +0.06 : Co announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement dated January 21, 2013 with Fulai Investments Limited, which has agreed to purchase 17,000,000 newly issued ordinary shares of LDK Solar, at a purchase price of US$1.83 per share with an aggregate purchase price of $31,110,000, subject to the terms and conditions of the share purchase agreement, including a lock-up for 180 days from the closing date of the contemplated transactions. Pursuant to the share purchase agreement, the parties will endeavor to fulfill the closing conditions to consummate the transactions prior to February 28, 2013. Fulai Investments also has the right to designate two non-executive directors to the LDK Solar board upon consummation of the transactions. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes in LDK Solar's operations

12:02PM Microsoft announces Surface Windows 8 Pro will be available for purchase on Feb 9, 2013 (MSFT) 27.11 -0.15 : Starting at an estimated retail price of $899, Surface Windows 8 Pro will be available in 64GB and 128GB models. In addition to being able to buy Surface Windows 8 Pro in the coming weeks, customers will soon be able to purchase Surface Windows RT in 14 additional markets worldwide, more than double the number of markets in which Surface is currently available.

Wind River, a subsidiary of Intel (INTC), announced its partnership with Hyundai MOBIS for in-vehicle infotainment systems.

For the third consecutive year, Ixia (XXIA) BreakingPoint has provided a fully operational network assessment solution for COMBINED ENDEAVOR, a military communications and cyber defense exercise run by U.S. European Command and NATO nations.

Atmel (ATML) has signed an agreement with Exegin Technologies to jointly offer integrated wireless communications solutions for smart grid applications.

6:36AM Verizon misses by $0.13, reports revs in-line (VZ) 42.51 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.38 per share ex items, (see impacts below), $0.13 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.51; revenues rose 5.7% year/year to $30.05 bln vs the $29.78 bln consensus.

A reduction of 7 cents per share due to impacts from Superstorm Sandy yielded a total of 38 cents per share in adjusted fourth-quarter 2012 earnings (non-GAAP).
Fourth-quarter 2012 charges totaled $1.86 per share: $1.55 per share related to severance, pension and benefit charges primarily for the annual actuarial valuation of Verizon's benefit plans as well as the annuitization of various pension liabilities during the quarter, and 31 cents per share related to the early retirement of debt and other restructuring activities.

Wireless

Verizon Wireless added 2.2 million net retail connections in the fourth quarter, including a record-high 2.1 million retail postpaid net connections.
The company added 5.0 million net retail postpaid connections in 2012, the most in four years.
At year-end 2012, smartphones accounted for more than 58 percent of the Verizon Wireless retail postpaid customer phone base, up from 53 percent at the end of third-quarter 2012.

Wireline:

Fourth-quarter 2012 operating revenues were $10.0 billion, a decline of 1.5 percent compared with fourth-quarter 2011

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that the University of Waterloo has purchased a GEN10 Molecular Beam Epitaxy system for its recently opened Quantum-Nano Centre hosting the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology and the Institute for Quantum Computing -ECOtality (ECTY) announced the launch of the fastest opportunity charger ever built for the material handling industry, the Minit-Charger 12.

Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) announced its industry and performance-leading InfiniBand solutions have been integrated in Australian cloud service provider, OrionVM, enterprise private and public clouds, who is now standardizing on InfiniBand for their enterprise deployments around the world.

STMicroelectronics (STM) announced availability of innovative software and associated microcontrollers that will allow simple, low-cost high-tech electronic equipment to become more compelling and easy to use.

NeoPhotonics (NPTN) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the semiconductor optical components business unit (OCU) of LAPIS Semiconductor. LAPIS Semiconductor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ROHM Co. Ltd. OCU is to be acquired by NeoPhotonics Semiconductor GK, a Japanese subsidiary of NeoPhotonics. Co has agreed to pay approximately $36.8 million in cash, which is comprised of approximately $21.2 million in cash, before adjustments for the business unit and an additional $15.6 million over three years for the associated real estate. The acquisition agreements provide for the purchase of the LAPIS Semiconductor OCU business, together with a portfolio of more than 150 patents and patents applications, its campus and high speed semiconductor and laser and detector fabrication facility. Based on co ests, the addition of OCU is expected to be accretive to the company's Adjusted EBITDA within the first year following the transaction.

10:11 am S&P Information Tech sector trading lower by -0.2% today
The tech sector is trading lower today, just trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness with the SOX trading 0.6% lower. Within the chip index, SPRD (-1.7%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.2% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+3.1%) is showing notable strength, while ORCL (-1.1%) and TXN (-1.0%) are under pressure.

In tech earnings, VZ (+0.7%) posted an EPS miss with in-line revenues. In news, SIMO (+3.1%) announced the authorization of a new share repurchase program and also approved its first quarterly cash dividend. Among rumors, RIMM (+9.6%) may consider sale of software licenses or hardware production as part of strategic review, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ASML (+0.7%) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro and RIMM (+9.8%) was upgraded to Sector Outperform at Scotia Capital. Among notable downgrades, Benchmark downgraded ARMH (-2.2%) to Hold. GOOG (-0.9%), IBM (+0.2%), AMD (+1.0%), CA (-0.8%), and TXN (-1.0%) are the only notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The major averages finished today's session on a positive note despite early weakness in the S&P 500. Today's focus centered on earnings as technology heavyweights Google (GOOG 741.50, +38.63) and International Business Machines (IBM 204.72, +8.64) reported fourth quarter results which were received warmly by the market.

Both companies beat their respective Capital IQ earnings expectations, while revenues proved to be more of a mixed bag. Google's top line of $12.16 billion represented nearly 50.0% year-over-year growth, but the figure fell short of analyst expectations. Meanwhile, IBM's revenue slipped 0.6% year-over-year to $29.30 billion.

Google and IBM saw respective gains of 5.5% and 4.4%, and their strength resulted in a notable divergence in the major averages. It should be noted that IBM accounts for more than 10.0% of the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average due to its high stock price. This caused the 30-stock average to trade near its session high for the duration of the day.

Elsewhere, the Nasdaq spent the entire session in a ten point range as positive tech earnings contributed to the relative strength. Also of note, Apple (AAPL 514.00, +9.24) gained 1.8% prior to reporting its quarterly earnings after the closing bell.

The S&P 500 was the last index to cross into the black. After making several morning attempts, the benchmark average turned positive in afternoon trade in a move which coincided with the successful passage of the "No Budget, No Pay" bill in the House of Representatives. The measure, which is aimed at extending the debt ceiling until May 19, comes with a caveat stipulating congressional pay will be suspended if no budget deal is reached by April 15.

While technology stocks were the clear leaders today, steel producers lagged as the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 49.33, -0.44) ended lower by 0.9%.

Apparel producers were also among the underperformers after Coach (COH 50.75, -9.93) missed on earnings and revenue. In addition, the retailer said its North American comparable store sales fell short of estimates. The stock tumbled 16.4% and peer Fossil (FOSL 103.49, -2.46) was hit hard, falling 2.3%.

Crude oil traded with slim losses for the majority of the session before selling off into the close. The weakness caused the energy component to slip 1.1% and settle at $95.60.

Today's economic data focused on housing. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index pointed to a 7.0% increase in new mortgage applications. This follows the prior week's increase of 15.2% Elsewhere, the November FHFA Housing Price Index rose by 0.6% to follow the prior month's uptick of 0.5%.

Tomorrow, weekly initial and continuing claims will both be reported at 8:30 ET. In addition, December leading indicators will be released at 10:00 ET.DJ30 +66.96 NASDAQ +10.49 SP500 +2.22 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1045/1.66 bln/1420 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1423/638.7 mln/1553

3:35 pm :

Mar crude oil traded in negative territory for its entire pit session as investors reacted to news that the IMF lowered its global GDP forecasts. The energy component saw further weakness as it sold off in the last 45 minutes of floor trade on Bloomberg reports of reduced capacity on the Seaway pipeline. It brushed a session low of $94.95 per barrel just before settling at $95.32 per barrel, or 1.4% lower.
Feb natural gas advanced to a pit session high of $3.58 per MMBtu in morning action but was unable to sustain the gain. It retreated back into negative territory where it settled with a 0.3% loss at $3.55 per MMBtu.
Gold retreated from its session high of $1694.80 per ounce set in early morning action and slid to a session low of $1683.10 per ounce as the dollar index rallied to session highs. The yellow metal attempted to erase the loss but came short as prices were unable to break past the $1690.00 per ounce level. Gold eventually settled the session 0.4% lower at $1686.60 per ounce.
Silver also dipped into the red and to a session low of $32.10 per ounce on moves by the dollar index. However, it bounced back into positive territory and steadily climbed higher. It touched a session high of $32.49 per ounce moments before settling with a 0.8% gain at $32.43 per ounce.

DJ30 +73.30 NASDAQ +11.44 SP500 +2.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1056/1392.7 mln/1396 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1377/455 mln/1577

4:36PM Apple beats by $0.26, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 revs, gross margin below consensus (AAPL) 514.01 +9.24 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $13.81 per share, $0.26 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $13.55.

The co sold a record 47.8 mln iPhones in the quarter (vs. ests of ~48 mln), compared to 37 mln in the year-ago quarter.
Apple also sold a record 22.9 mln iPads during the quarter (vs. ests of ~22 mln), compared to 15.4 mln in the year-ago quarter.
The co sold 4.1 mln Macs (vs. ests of ~5 mln), compared to 5.2 mln in the year-ago quarter.
Apple sold 12.7 mln iPods in the quarter, compared to 15.4 mln in the year-ago quarter.
Q1 gross margins of 38.6% vs Street est of 38.6% and 36% guidance.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $41-43 bln vs. $45.94 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; with gross margin of 37.5-38.5% vs. ests of ~40.5%... Apple typically guides conservatively.

4:22PM Altera misses by $0.02, misses on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus (ALTR) 35.18 -0.33 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.37 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.39; revenues fell 4.0% year/year and 11% sequentially to $439.4 mln vs the $451.0 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs down 4-8% sequentially which computes to $404-422 mln vs. $462.6 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"While our new products had a double-digit sequential growth quarter, sales of our older products were soft-the result of a sluggish global economy...Sales of 40 nm devices, our largest selling process node, and where we are the market leader, are likely to strengthen further as we progress through 2013. At the most advanced process node, 28 nm, Altera remains the design-win value leader, giving us a substantial growth opportunity as these customer designs transition into production."

4:21PM Altera and Mouser sign worldwide distribution agreement (ALTR) 35.18 -0.33 : Co announced the signing of a worldwide distribution agreement with Altera Corporation, the pioneer and preeminent global supplier of programmable logic ICs. Through this agreement, Mouser becomes an authorized global distributor of Altera FPGAs, CPLDs, development tools, intellectual property cores and development kits.

4:22PM Netflix beats by $0.27, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (NFLX) 103.26 +5.45 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.27 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.14); revenues rose 7.9% year/year to $945 mln vs the $934.85 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.00-0.23 vs. ($0.09) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $1.004-1.031 bln vs. $970.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

'We added more than 2 million members in Q4 to end the year with over 27 million domestic members. Our holiday season was particularly strong, driven by consumers buying new electronic devices, including tablets and smart TVs. Both voluntary and involuntary retention improved in Q4. The increase in involuntary retention was due to improvements in how we process payments and recover those members on payment hold. We believe the gains in voluntary retention stemmed from steady improvements in service and content relative to the broad array of video choices available to consumers, as shown by the continued growth in our median hours viewed per member'.

Netflix Q4 Metrics

Domestic Streaming
Total Subs Q4 27.15 mln vs Guidance 26.4-27.1 mln
Paid Subs Q4 25.4 mln vs Guidance 24.9-25.4 mln
Revenue Q4 $589 mln vs Guidance $581-588 mln
Contribution Profit $109mln vs Guidance $94-102 mln
Contribution Margin Q4 18.5% vs Guidance 17%

'Our target remains to expand contribution margin on average about 100 basis points per quarter. We anticipate domestic streaming contribution profit will, for the first time ever, be larger than DVD contribution profit (and up about 90% year over year) in Q1'.

International Streaming
Paid Subs Q4 6.12 mln vs Guidance 4.23-4.75 mln
Revenue Q4 $101mln vs Guidance $90-100 mln
Contribution Loss ($105 mln) vs Guidance ($119 mln) to ($107 mln)

'Over the course of this year, we expect to see declining losses in our current international markets as member growth exceeds growth in content spending. With a Q1 guidance midpoint of $87 million in international losses, we expect a sequential improvement of $18 million, with more modest sequential improvements expected in subsequent quarters. For the first half of 2013, we aren't planning to launch additional international markets. We are evaluating several expansion markets for late 2013 or 2014, but have not made any decisions yet. Our launch in the Nordics was very successful, confirming our belief in the large international opportunity for our service. In Latin America, we've made steady progress on our consumer payment infrastructure'.

Domestic DVD
Total Subs 8.22 mln vs Guidance 7.85-8.15 mln
Revenues Q4 $254 mln vs $248-255 mln Consolidated Global
Net Income Q4 $8 mln vs Guidance ($13.2 mln) to $2 mln
EPS Q4 $0.13 vs Guidance ($0.23) to $0.04
'The US Postal Service is under financial stress, but we don't foresee service changes this year that have a material negative impact upon us or our members'

Netflix Q1 Guidance

Domestic Streaming
Total Subs Q1 28.5-29.2 mln
Paid Subs Q1 27.5-29.2 mln
Revenue Q1 $633-641 mln
Contribution Profit Q1 $122-130 mln

International Streaming
Total Subs Q1 6.6-7.3 mln
Paid Subs Q1 5.8-6.4 mln
Revenue Q1 $132-144 mln
Contribution Loss Q1 ($94-80 mln)

Domestic DVD
Total Subs Q1 7.6-8.5 mln
Revenues Q1 $239-246 mln

Consolidated Global
Net Income Q1 $0-14 mln
EPS Q1 $0.00-0.23

Carl Icahn
'Carl Icahn became a 10% investor last quarter at approximately $58 per share. We have no further news about his intentions, but have had constructive conversations with him about building a more valuable company'.

4:19PM Western Digital beats by $0.28, beats on revs (WDC) : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $2.09 per share, $0.28 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.81; revenues rose 91.7% year/year to $3.82 bln vs the $3.65 bln consensus. The company generated $772 million in cash from operations during the December quarter, ending with total cash and cash equivalents of $3.8 billion.

4:18PM Mellanox Tech beats by $0.03; rev just above lowered guidance (MLNX) 51.69 +3.61 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.69 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.66; revenues rose 68.0% year/year to $122.1 mln vs the $119.94 mln consensus -- co on January 2 lowered rev guidance to $119-121 mln from $150-155 mln. Non-GAAP gross margins were 70.0 percent in Q4, and 70.3 percent in 2012.

4:14PM Lam Research beats by $0.01, beats on revs (LRCX) 40.10 +0.02 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.45 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.44; revenues rose 47.3% year/year to $860.1 mln vs the $848.85 mln consensus; non-GAAP gross margin of 44.2%, operating margin of 11.5%. Co repurchased 10 million shares of common stock, completing ~$1.4 billion of $1.6 billion in announced buybacks

4:07PM Lam Research announces planned departure of CFO (LRCX) 40.10 +0.02 : Co announces that after more than 15 years with Lam, CFO Ernie Maddock will be leaving the company in mid-April. The co has an active search for a successor and consistent with prior planned executive transitions at Lam, Maddock will remain CFO until a successor is in place.

4:12PM LSI Logic beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (LSI) 7.51 +0.21 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.18 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.14; revenues rose 14.7% year/year to $600.1 mln vs the $590.54 mln consensus. Co issues in-line EPS guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.09-0.15, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.13 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $535-575 mln vs. $576.24 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:12PM F5 Networks misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (FFIV) : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $1.14 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.15; revenues rose 13.4% year/year to $365.5 mln vs the $366.73 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $1.21-1.24 vs. $1.20 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $370-380 mln vs. $379.56 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"During the first quarter, strong sales to North American enterprises and service providers were offset by a substantial slowdown in U.S. Federal sales. Japan sales were also weak during the quarter, in contrast to continuing strength in Europe and solid year-over-year growth in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region..."

4:08PM SanDisk beats by $0.30, reports revs in-line (SNDK) 47.65 -0.30 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.05 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.30 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.75; revenues fell 2.2% year/year to $1.54 bln vs the $1.53 bln consensus.

"SanDisk ended 2012 with strong momentum in our SSD business, which contributed 10% of our Q4 revenue. We are now supplying client SSDs to ten leading PC OEMs and our enterprise SSDs are qualified at a fourth storage OEM. We drove solid sequential growth in our embedded mobile products and continued to execute well in our retail business. We believe that our broadening customer engagements and expanding product portfolio position us well for strong profitability in 2013." (stock is halted)

8:01AM Cisco Systems announces intent to acquire Intucell (CSCO) 20.87 : Intucell provides advanced self-optimizing network software, which enables mobile carriers to plan, configure, manage, optimize and heal cellular networks automatically, according to real-time changing network demands. Upon the close of the acquisition, Intucell employees will be integrated into Cisco's Service Provider Mobility Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $475 million in cash and retention-based incentives to acquire the entire business and operations of Intucell. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2013, subject to customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals.

7:32AM Molex beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (MOLX) 28.67 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.39 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.38; revenues rose 12.8% year/year to $967.7 mln vs the $949.57 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.33-0.37 vs. $0.38 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $900-930 mln vs. $935.14 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"Our results came in at the high end of our guidance range and we were particularly pleased to achieve record revenue this quarter as shipments were strong leading into the Christmas period. Bookings were weaker toward the latter part of the quarter and consistent with normal seasonal trends, were down 2.6% on a sequential basis. Our pipeline of new projects is strong and we will have a clearer view of the business trends for calendar year 2013 after Chinese New Year."

7:05AM Motorola Solutions beats by $0.08, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs below consensus; guides FY13 EPS in-line, revs in-line (MSI) 58.29 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.02; revenues rose 6.1% year/year to $2.44 bln vs the $2.45 bln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.62-0.67, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.67 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs growth of 4-5% (approx $2.03-2.05 bln) vs. $2.07 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co issues in-line guidance for FY13, sees EPS of approx $3.77, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.67 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY13 revs growth of 5.0-5.5% (approx $9.13-9.17) vs. $9.17 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

TowerJazz (TSEM) announced a collaboration with ON Semiconductor (ONNN) to deliver an advanced programmable PMIC and high voltage level shifter with VCom targeting the high-end display panel market.

Research In Motion (RIMM) announced that its new Enterprise Mobility Management solution, BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, is now available for download.

Google (GOOG) reported fourth quarter earnings of $10.65 per share, $0.09 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $10.56, while revenues rose 49.6% year/year to $12.16 billion (includes Motorola Home) versus the $12.36 bln consensus. Paid Clicks- Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, increased approximately 24% over the fourth quarter of 2011 and increased approximately 9% over the third quarter of 2012. Cost-Per-Click- Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, decreased approximately 6% over the fourth quarter of 2011 and increased approximately 2% over the third quarter of 2012. TAC- Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google's partners, increased to $3.08 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to $2.45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 25% in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 24% in the fourth quarter of 2011. Motorola Mobile Revenues (hardware and other)- Motorola Mobile revenues were $1.51 billion, or 11% of consolidated revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012. Google International Revenues- Google revenues from outside of the United States totaled $6.9 billion, representing 54% of total Google revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 53% in the third quarter of 2012 and 53% in the fourth quarter of 2011. Foreign Exchange Impact on Google Revenues- Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2012 through the fourth quarter of 2012, our Google revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012 would have been $130 million lower. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the fourth quarter of 2011 through the fourth quarter of 2012, our Google revenues in the fourth quarter of 2012 would have been $193 million higher.

IBM (IBM) reported fourth quarter earnings of $5.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $5.25, while revenues fell 0.6% year/year to $29.3 billion versus the $29.09 bln consensus; flat adjusting for currency; up 1% excluding divested RSS business adjusting for currency. Free cash flow of $9.5 billion, up $0.6 billion; Software revenue up 3%, up 4% adjusting for currency; Services revenue down 2%, down 1% adjusting for currency; Services backlog of $140 billion, flat, up $1 billion adjusting for currency; Systems and Technology revenue down 1%, up 4% excluding RSS: System z mainframe up 56%By region: The Americas' fourth-quarter revenues were $12.5 billion, flat (up 1%, adjusting for currency) from the 2011 period. Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $9.1 billion, down 5% (down 3%, adjusting for currency). Asia-Pacific revenues increased 4% (up 5%, adjusting for currency) to $7.0 billion. OEM revenues were $679 million, down 5% compared with the 2011 fourth quarter. Revenues from the co's growth markets increased 7%. Revenues in the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - increased 11% (up 14%, adjusting for currency). Co issues upside guidance for FY13, sees EPS of at least $16.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $16.63 Capital IQ Consensus.

Texas Instruments (TXN) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.36 per share -- excluding: 6 cents of charges associated with the co's 2011 acquisition of NSM and restructuring that was included in the co's outlook provided in December; EPS also includes 23 cents of charges associated with the recently announced restructuring of the company's Wireless business of which 21 cents was included in the co's outlook; in addition, EPS includes 15 cents for a discrete tax benefit and associated interest that was not included in the co's outlook -- may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.34. The company on Dec 10 guided to $0.26-0.30 from $0.29-0.37 (ex-$0.24 restructuring); revenues fell 12.9% year/year to $2.98 billion versus the $2.95 bln consensus; the company previously guided revenue to $2.89-3.01 from $2.83-3.07 billion. "We continue to operate in a weak demand environment. Our visibility into future demand remains limited as our lead times are short and our customers are reluctant to commit to extended backlog. On the positive side, we believe customers and distributors are operating with lean inventory. Our own operations are disciplined and performing well, with gross margin up despite increased underutilization costs, and with operating expenses down from a year ago." The company issued guidance for the first quarter with sees EPS of $0.24-0.32, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.34 consensus and revenues of $2.68-2.91 billion versus the $2.9 billion consensus Estimate. At the middle of this range, revenue is expected to be down $179 million sequentially. About $135 million, or about 75 percent, of this decline is expected to come from Wireless products for the smartphone and consumer tablet markets from which the company is exiting.

Cree (CREE) reported second quarter earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.30, while revenues rose 13.9% year/year to $346.3 million versus the $331.06 mln consensus. The company issued upside guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.30-0.35, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.28 Capital IQ consensus and revenues of $325-345 million versus the $322.21 million consensus. "Fiscal Q2 was another strong quarter with record revenue and earnings per share that were higher than our target range due to stronger sales in both LEDs and Lighting combined with improved gross margins...Overall company backlog is in line with seasonal trends for our fiscal Q3. Longer term, we remain focused on driving adoption through innovation, and with our broad understanding of the technology levers from materials through systems, we see opportunities to move the market even faster than what has been experienced to date." For its third quarter of fiscal 2013 ending March 31, 2013, Cree targets GAAP gross margin targeted to be similar to Q2 and non-GAAP gross margin targeted to be 39.5%+/-.

10:38 am S&P Information Technology Sector trading higher by 1.1% ahead of Apple Earnings
The tech sector is trading higher today, ahead of slight losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading only 0.3% higher. Within the chip index, however, CREE (+16.9%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ is up 0.6% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.3% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+5.8%) and IBM (+5.8%) are showing notable strength, while CSCO (-0.7%) is under pressure. In a busy night in tech earnings, GOOG (+5.8%) posted a solid earnings beat; IBM (+5.8%) reported a slight beat and guided ahead of consensus; TXN (-1.4%) posted a modest revenue beat and issued guidance below consensus; RFMD (+2.7%) posted a slight beat and raise; and AMD (+8.2%) reported a slight Q4 beat and guided below consensus. This morning, SAP (+1.5%) reported results in line with its preannouncement, CHKP (+0.8%) posted a mixed Q4, SYMC (+3.4%) posted a Q3 beat, and MSI (-2.6%) reported a slight beat with modestly downside guidance. In news, PERI (-8.7%) is showing notable weakness this morning following a cautious Bloomberg TV report. Among rumors, we are hearing Z (+3.1%) takeover chatter making the rounds. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ALU (+4.6%) was upgraded to Neutral at Citigroup, N (+3.4%) was upgraded to Buy at Lazard and VZ (-0.5%) was upgraded at Canaccord and Hudson Square. Also, MLNX (-0.3%) was initiated with an Overweight at Piper Jaffray. Among downgrades, ELLI (-7.5%) was downgraded at William Blair. AAPL (+1.2%), JEC (-0.9%), SNDK (-0.4%), LRCX (-0.7%), and WDC (-0.8%) are the only notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 25-Jan-13

Dow +70.65 at 13895.98, Nasdaq +19.33 at 3149.71, S&P +8.14 at 1502.96

Stocks began the final session of the week on a strong note as upbeat European trade supported U.S. equity futures. The positive sentiment across the old continent resulted from a strong German Ifo Business Climate Index, which beat expectations on both components-business expectations and the current assessment. Meanwhile, a disappointing preliminary GDP report out of the United Kingdom did little to cool investor optimism. The key averages climbed throughout the session and ended near their respective highs. The S&P 500 added 0.5%, and settled above the 1500 level for the first time since December 10, 2007.

The Nasdaq was the top performing index despite the relative weakness in the shares of Apple (AAPL 439.88, -10.62). The largest tech stock slipped 2.4% to extend yesterday's 12.4% decline, which followed a disappointing earnings report. Note that today's slide caused Apple to slip below Exxon Mobil's (XOM 91.73, +0.38) market cap. This occurred exactly one year after Apple surpassed Exxon Mobil to claim the title of most valuable company.

Sans Apple, the tech sector fared well thanks in part to strength among microprocessor manufacturers. KLA-Tencor (KLAC 56.34, +4.37) surged 8.4% after the company beat on earnings and revenue. Elsewhere, Cirrus Logic (CRUS 29.42, +2.71) soared 10.2% after investors welcomed its quarterly report. The two names contributed to the gains registered by the PHLX Semiconductor Index, which settled higher by 1.3%.

Several large cap technology stocks garnered interest as the recent slide in the shares of Apple caused some investors to look elsewhere. Amazon.com (AMZN 283.99, +10.37), eBay (EBAY 56.53, +1.34), and Priceline.com (PCLN 718.82, +39.27) all gained between 2.4% and 5.8%.

While Amazon.com and Priceline.com are both part of the Nasdaq, the two stocks are also a component of the S&P 500 consumer discretionary space. The sector was the day's top performer after gaining 1.0%.

Discretionary stocks saw general strength, and Starbucks (SBUX 56.81, +2.24) jumped 4.1% after its quarterly earnings indicated same store sales remain healthy. Elsewhere, Netflix (NFLX 169.56, +22.70) spiked 15.5% to follow yesterday's earnings-driven 42.2% jump. Since Tuesday, shares of Netflix have been on fire, gaining nearly 70%.

However, there was a pocket of weakness within the discretionary sector. Hasbro (HAS 37.31, -1.14) slipped 3.0% after warning that its fourth quarter revenue will come in below the Capital IQ consensus estimate. Peer Mattel (MAT 37.15, -0.89) lost 2.3% in sympathy.

The discretionary sector was closely followed by energy stocks, which climbed higher despite little change in crude oil. Halliburton (HAL 39.72, +1.91) was a notable gainer after the stock advanced 5.1% on the back of a strong quarterly report.

Looking at the relative performance of S&P 500 sectors, discretionary (+1.0%) stocks led while energy (+0.9%), and health care (+0.8%) followed closely. On the downside, technology (+0.1%), telecoms (+0.4%), and materials (+0.4%) lagged.

It should be noted that while the key indices ended near their highs, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 12.89, +0.20) settled in positive territory as well. The move indicates that despite today's advance, near-term downside protection received notable interest during the session.

Volume was slightly above its 20-day average with just under 700 million shares changing hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Looking at today's economic data, the headline number for the December new home sales report was a disappointment. The Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000 units, while the Briefing.com consensus estimate was pegged at 385,000. In actuality, though, the report was better than expected when taking into account the upward revision to November.

Specifically, sales in November were revised up to 398,000 from 377,000. Combined with the sales in December, the average for the two-month period was 384,000 versus an average of 381,000 that was expected prior to the revision.

Three out of four regions saw new home sales slip in December. The Northeast led the decline with a 29.4% drop. The Midwest was the standout, enjoying a 21.3% jump in new home sales.

Median prices edged up 1.3% to $248,900. For 2012, the median sales price of a new home increased 7.2% from 2011 to $243,600.

At the current pace of sales, there is a 4.9 month supply of inventory, which is up from 4.5 months in November and the highest level since April 2012.

On Monday, December durable goods and durable goods ex-transportation will be reported at 8:30 ET. In addition, December pending home sales will be announced at 10:00 ET. Among notable earnings, Caterpillar (CAT 95.58, -1.02) is scheduled to announce its quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $35 billion in 2-yr notes.

Week in Review: Stocks Climb Despite Mixed Earnings Picture

On Monday, equity and bond markets were closed in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

Tuesday's session ended with slim gains despite a mid-morning stumble. The S&P 500 and Dow were able to overcome the early weakness thanks in part to upbeat earnings from major sector components. The 30-stock Dow Jones led the way as earnings from DuPont (DD 48.33, +0.26), Travelers (TRV 78.35, +0.26), and Verizon Communications (VZ 42.67, +0.08) contributed to the outperformance. Though Verizon missed on the bottom line, its stock added 0.9%. Elsewhere, Caterpillar saw little change following the discovery of accounting misconduct at its Chinese subsidiary. As a result of the discovery, Caterpillar will take a fourth quarter non-cash charge of approximately $580 million.

Wednesday saw the major averages finish on a positive note despite early weakness in the S&P 500. The day's sentiment was driven by earnings as technology heavyweights Google (GOOG 753.67, -0.16) and International Business Machines (IBM 204.97, +0.55) reported bottom line beats. Revenues were mixed as Google's top line grew 50% year-over-year, but the reported $12.16 billion fell short of analyst expectations. Meanwhile, IBM's revenue slipped 0.6% to $29.30 billion, in-line with expectations. Google and IBM saw respective gains of 5.5% and 4.4%.

On Thursday, the major averages ended the session near their opening levels. The Dow was an exception as the blue chip index finished higher by 0.3%. The Nasdaq slid 0.7% as Apple's 12.4% fall weighed on the tech-heavy index. Shares of Apple plunged after the company fell short of revenue expectations, and issued downside second quarter gross margin and revenue guidance. On the flip side, Netflix was a notable standout as the stock soared 42.2% after its fourth quarter results handily beat the Capital IQ earnings and revenue estimate. In addition, the video streaming service guided first quarter top and bottom line above consensus.

 
 Index	  Started Week	 Ended Week   Change	%Change	 YTD % 
 DJIA	    13649.70	  13895.98    246.28	  1.8	 6.0 
 Nasdaq	     3134.71	   3149.71     15.00	  0.5	 4.3 
 S&P 500	1485.98	   1502.96     16.98	  1.1	 5.4 
 Russell 2000  892.80	    905.24     12.44	  1.4	 6.6

8:30AM First Solar recommends stockholders reject mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Corp (FSLR) 30.30 : Co has been notified of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by TRC Capital Corp (TRC) to purchase up to 2,000,000 shares, or ~2.3 percent, of the outstanding First Solar common stock at a price of $30.00 per share in cash. TRC's offer price is ~5% less than the $31.58 closing price of First Solar's common stock on Jan 22, 2013, the day before the mini-tender offer commenced.

First Solar does not endorse TRC's mini-tender offer and recommends that First Solar stockholders do not tender their shares in response to the offer because it is a mini-tender offer at a price below the market price for First Solar shares (as of the date First Solar received notice of the offer) and is subject to numerous conditions

Microsoft (MSFT) reported second quarter earnings of $0.76 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.75, while revenues rose 2.7% year/year to $21.46 billion versus the $21.5 bln consensus; gross margin 73.5% vs. ests of ~73%. The Windows Division posted revenue of $5.88 billion, a 24% increase from the prior year period. Adjusting for the net deferral of revenue for the Windows Upgrade Offer and the recognition of the previously deferred revenue from Windows 8 Pre-sales, Windows Division non-GAAP revenue increased 11% for the second quarter. Microsoft has sold over 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date. The Server & Tools business reported $5.19 billion of revenue, a 9% increase from the prior year period, driven by double-digit percentage revenue growth in SQL Server and System Center. The Microsoft Business Division posted $5.69 billion of revenue, a 10% decrease from the prior year period. Adjusting for the impact of the Office Upgrade Offer and Pre-sales, Microsoft Business Division non-GAAP revenue increased 3% for the second quarter. Revenue from Microsoft's productivity server offerings -- collectively includingLync, SharePoint, and Exchange -- continued double-digit percentage growth. The Entertainment and Devices Division posted revenue of $3.77 billion, a decrease of 11% from the prior year period. Adjusting for the Video Game Deferral, the division's non-GAAP revenue decreased 2% for the second quarter. Xbox continues to be the top-selling console in the United States. During the quarter, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8 with a broad array of carriers and devices. Microsoft reaffirms fiscal year 2013 operating expense guidance of $30.3 billion to $30.9 billion.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.28 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.22, while revenues rose 1.8% year/year to $1.14 bln versus the $1.13 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.18-0.22 versus the $0.20 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $1.050-1.070 billion versus the $1.07 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "For the fourth quarter we delivered sequential and year-over-year revenue growth and expanded operating margins. We have largely completed our announced workforce actions and are well underway with our facility and supply chain efforts to reduce our cost structure..."

Rambus (RMBS) reported fourth quarter loss of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ single est of ($0.12), while revenues fell 31.2% year/year to $57.4 million versus the $60.25 million consensus, primarily due to recognition of one-time royalty revenue during the fourth quarter of 2011 from a patent license agreement with Broadcom and lower royalties reported by other customers. Rev nearly flat on a sequential basis from the third quarter of 2012 primarily due to recognition of one-time royalty revenue during the third quarter of 2012 from a patent license agreement with Fujitsu, offset by higher royalties reported by other customers. As compared to Q4, revenue was down 31%.

QLogic (QLGC) reported third quarter earnings of $0.20 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.17, while revenues fell 16.4% year/year to $11 9.4 million versus the $115.77 mln consensus. "We are seeing stabilization in our business and I believe our investments in innovative technologies for new market opportunities position us well to deliver future growth."

KLA-Tencor (KLAC) reported second quarter earnings of $0.63 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.57, while revenues rose 4.7% year/year to $673 million versus the $634.52 mln consensus. "In the second quarter, KLA-Tencor delivered revenue and earnings per share at or above the upper end of our range of guidance in the face of a challenging demand environment."

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Amateur Investors Weekend Stock Market Analysis (1/26/13)

http://www.amateur-investor.net/Weekend_Market_Analysis_Jan_26_2013.htm

One of the main driving forces for the stock market is Corporate Income. The chart below shows Yearly Corporate Income since 1929 in real dollars. After trending downward in 2007 and 2008 (points D) Corporate Income began to rebound in 2009 and has increased significantly the past few years (points I) while making all time highs.



Meanwhile Employee Compensation as a % of Corporate Income has reached all time lows the past two years and has trended sharply downward since 2002. Thus it doesn't take a business degree from the Wharton School of Business to figure out how corporations have increased their profits. They have done it by substantially reducing labor costs.



Furthermore the National Wage Index as calculated by the Social Security Administration clearly shows how Wage Growth has been steadily declining after peaking in the 1970's.



The question at this point is the current increase in Corporate Income sustainable? Since the late 1920's companies have seen Incomes go though a series of up and down cycles. The red line is a simple 3 Year Moving Average of Income.



Meanwhile when you look at a long term chart of the Dow you can clearly see how these up and down cycles in Corporate Income has affected the market both negatively and positively. Outside of World War II the market has pretty much trended with the Income Cycles which have become more volatile the last decade.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The major averages ended today's session largely where they began. The S&P 500 and Dow registered modest losses, while the Nasdaq added 0.2%, seeing relative outperformance from Apple (AAPL 449.83, +9.95). The largest tech stock ended higher by 2.3% after disappointing earnings caused it to lose nearly 13.0% last week.

While Apple contributed to the relative strength of tech stocks, the remainder of the sector traded in mixed fashion. A notable sector component, Seagate (STX 37.41, +0.16), gained 0.4% ahead of its earnings report scheduled for an after-hours release. An upbeat report has been largely priced-in as Seagate has soared nearly 50.0% in the eight weeks leading into this evening's report. The Capital IQ consensus expects the hard drive manufacturer to report earnings of $1.27 on $3.57 billion in revenue.

As tech stocks registered gains, the materials sector was the weakest performer. The observed weakness resulted from a Goldman Sachs downgrade of the U.S. steel sector. Following the downgrade, steel stocks saw broad selling and the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 48.26, -0.70) shed 1.4%.

While materials lagged notably, the discretionary sector also exerted some downside pressure on equity indices. One pocket of weakness was among homebuilders, which slipped to their respective lows after the December pending home sales report pointed to a 4.3% month-over-month decline. Among individual builders, PulteGroup (PHM 20.96, -0.71) lost 3.3% and Lennar (LEN 41.91, -1.16) shed 2.7%. Meanwhile, the broader SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 28.81, -0.30) slipped 1.0%.

Elsewhere in the discretionary space, Jos. A. Bank (JOSB 39.28, -6.99) plunged 15.1% after the company said it expects its full-year 2012 net income to come in roughly 20.0% below its 2011 level. The cautious guidance spilled over to other apparel producers, which traded with a bearish bias.

On the earnings front, the market received just one notable report ahead of today's open. Caterpillar (CAT 97.45, +1.87) ended higher by 2.0% after the industrial heavyweight reported mixed results. Though the company beat the Capital IQ earnings estimate, its bottom line suffered a year-over-year decline of 17.7%.

Crude oil climbed steadily during afternoon trade and ended higher by 0.7%. The energy component settled at $96.51 after trading in a relatively narrow range.

Although the key indices ending mixed, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.63, +0.74) added 5.7%. This move suggested that near-term downside protection continued receiving interest.

Trading volume was below average as just under 650 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Looking at the S&P 500 sectors, technology (+0.3%) led the way while telecoms (+0.2%), and consumer staples (+0.1%) followed closely. On the downside, materials (-1.0%), consumer discretionary (-0.5%), and financials (-0.5%) lagged.

Besides the previously mentioned December pending home sales report, the market received news of December durable goods orders.

The Census Bureau reported that December durable goods orders rose by 4.6%. This was well ahead of the 1.6% increase which had been forecast by the Briefing.com consensus. As expected, aircraft orders were a primary factor for the surge in orders. Nondefense aircraft orders increased 10.1% while defense aircraft orders rose 56.4%.

Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders increased by 1.3%, which was better than the unchanged reading that had been broadly anticipated. The increase in ex-transportation orders was at odds with the contractions reported by many of the regional manufacturing surveys. Surprisingly, the gains in orders outside of transportation were due to strong demand for primary metals (3.6%) and fabricated metals (1.2%). This could suggest that manufacturers of finished goods are demanding more raw materials because they expect demand to rise in the near future.

In tomorrow's economic data, the November Case-Shiller 20-city Index will be reported at 9:00 ET. In addition, January consumer confidence will cross the wires at 10:00 ET. In notable earnings, Ford Motor (F 13.78, +0.20) will report its fourth quarter results ahead of the open.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $35 billion in 5-yr notes.DJ30 -14.05 NASDAQ +4.59 SP500 -2.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1404/1.80 bln/1072 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1294/646.8 mln/1715

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil erased early morning gains as it fell off its session high of $96.81 per barrel to a session low of $95.47 per barrel. However, the energy component got a boost from higher gasoline prices following news that Hess (HES) was closing its Port Reading, New Jersey refinery. It climbed back into positive territory and settled with a 0.6% gain at $96.45 per barrel.
Feb natural gas traded lower for a fifth consecutive session as forecasts for mild weather weighed on prices. After trading near the $3.31 per MMBtu level for most of the session, it settled with a 4.4% loss at $3.29 per MMBtu.
Feb gold chopped around just below the unchanged line for most of today's floor trade as the dollar index traded slightly higher. It brushed a session high of $1659.20 per ounce in positive territory but quickly fell into the red. It eventually settled 0.2% lower at $1653.10 per ounce.
Mar silver retreated from its session high of $31.09 per ounce set at pit trade open and trended lower for the remainder of the session. It ultimately settled at $30.78 per ounce, or 1.3% lower.

DJ30 -3.69 NASDAQ +0.22 SP500 -1.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1350/1543.8 mln/1134 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1262/430 mln/1728

4:30PM Sierra Wireless enters into agreement to sell assets of AirCard business to NETGEAR (NTGR) for $138 mln in cash plus ~ $6.5 mln in assumed liabilities as of Dec 31, 2012 (still halted) (SWIR) 9.16 +0.41 : Co announced it has executed a definitive agreement for the sale of substantially all of the assets and operations related to its AirCard business to NETGEAR (NTGR) for $138 million in cash plus approximately $6.5 million in assumed liabilities as of December 31, 2012. Co expects to realize net cash proceeds of ~ $100 million from the asset sale, after related taxes, expenses, and funds held in escrow. The transaction is expected to close in March 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. Co intends to use net proceeds from the transaction to continue its acquisition strategy in the M2M market, with the objective of accelerating revenue and earnings growth by strengthening its leadership in existing markets and expanding its position in the M2M value chain. Co is also exploring alternatives to return a portion of the proceeds to shareholders and will seek approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange to undertake a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB"). The terms of the proposed NCIB will be subject to TSX review and approval, and Sierra Wireless expects to provide further details in the coming weeks.

4:09PM Seagate Tech beats by $0.11, beats on revs (in line with pre-announcement) -- co expected to issue Q3 rev guidance on CC at 17:00 (STX) 37.42 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $1.38 per share, $0.11 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.27; revenues rose 14.8% year/year to $3.67 bln (co guided rev to at least $3.6 bln on Jan 8) vs the $3.57 bln consensus.

"Seagate is executing well in an environment where customer demand forecasting is challenging....Looking ahead, we will continue to manage our business conservatively to the demand environment, focus on profitability and effectively invest for market leadership in storage for mobility..The Board of Directors approved an increase in our quarterly cash dividend to $0.38 per share which was paid on December 28, 2012, rather than in the March 2013 quarter."
Seagate Tech Q2 non-GAAP gross margins 27.6% (On Jan 8th company said it expects gross margins to be at least 27% compared to the 31.7% in the same quarter as last year)
The company is expected to guide for Q3 revenues on its conference call beginning at 17:00

4:09PM Yahoo! beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line (YHOO) 20.31 -0.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.28; revenues rose 4.4% year/year to $1.22 bln vs the $1.21 bln consensus.

Search revenue ex-TAC was $427 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, a 14 percent increase compared to $376 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.
Paid clicks, or the number of clicks on sponsored listings on Yahoo! Properties and Affiliate sites, increased approximately 11 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 and increased approximately 8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2012.
Display revenue ex-TAC was $520 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, a 5 percent decrease compared to $546 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

4:08PM Sanmina misses by $0.05, misses on revs; guides Q2 below consensus (SANM) : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.34; revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $1.5 bln vs the $1.53 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $026-0.32 vs. $0.32 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $1.40-1.45 bln vs. $1.49 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"First quarter revenue and EPS were below expectations due to weak demand across most of our market segments. Our second quarter guidance reflects seasonality along with continued uncertainty in the macro-environment. Based on the pipeline of new business opportunities and the ramping of new programs in fiscal 2013, we should see improvements in the second half of the year."

4:03PM Integrated Device reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (IDTI) : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.04; revenues fell 4.1% year/year to $115.1 mln vs the $119.09 mln consensus.

"Although visibility into near term demand is limited, design win activity remains strong and we expect top line growth from new product categories to accelerate in the second half of this calendar year, led by wireless power and enterprise flash controllers. In addition, we believe that improvement in our core business and continued operating expense reductions will enable us to achieve significant operating margin expansion in fiscal year 2014."

4:02PM Seagate Tech and Virident announce agreement to jointly deliver solutions for flash storage market (STX) 37.41 +0.16 : Under the agreement, Seagate will immediately offer a complete line of flash-based PCIe solutions to its OEM and distribution partners. In addition, Seagate and Virident intend to leverage their mutual strengths to create next-generation hardware and software solutions for the solid-state storage market. In conjunction with the agreement, Seagate has made a strategic equity investment in Virident, and will appoint one member to the Virident Board of Directors.
Altera (ALTR) announced the Stratix V GT FPGA is shipping to JDSU for volume production of the co's Optical Network Tester solutions.

Rubicon Technology (RBCN) has shipped a total of 400,000 six-inch sapphire wafers to LED manufacturing and SoS/RFIC markets.

8:00AM Nam Tai Electronics provides commentary on outlook along with earnings (NTE) 13.83 : In addition to reporting Q4 rev +263% YoY to $468 mln and EPS of $0.80 vs. ($0.13) last yr (no ests), NTE gave the following outlook:

The Company is currently coordinating with its existing customers, as essential production partners, to further diversify the Company's product portfolio by developing and manufacturing new model for the existing end-buyer and also extend to other new customers' LCM products used in smartphones, tablets, ultrabook computers and automobiles, which the Company believes, with confidence, will continue to drive its growth in 2013 of its existing production capacity and production facilities.
Due to the high level of competition in the market for tablets, smartphones and ultrabook computers, the Company's management expects its customer orders will continue to fluctuate and its gross profit would also be under more pressure in 2013.

DSP Group (DSPG) announced that its cordless chipset solutions are powering a CAT-iq 2.0 ready global solution offered by Turkcell SuperOnLine in Turkey.

Apple (AAPL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Robert W. Baird; tgt lowered to $465. The firm notes they are increasingly wary of several near-term risks, particularly consensus estimates that they believe remain frustratingly too high. With estimates likely to fall further and gross margin concerns likely to linger, they believe the shares could drop further, despite the sharp sell-off and valuation. Notably, they remain positive on Apple's leading product portfolio, unmatched ecosystem and potential new products, and would look for a more significant "reboot" of estimates to potentially get more aggressive again.

Mizuho notes, much of the recent concern on Cisco (CSCO) has centered on erosion of core markets by Juniper, HP and Huawei. However, a combination of product refresh, refocused engineering and improved sales execution have preserved key franchises. While the demand environment remains challenging, the firm believes Cisco is seeing more stability and predictability in quarterly revenues. At the same time, they think margins have bottomed, setting up for potential improvement with any incremental transition of the business toward software.

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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Equities finished today's session on a mixed note. The Dow and S&P 500 gained 0.5% each, while the Nasdaq underperformed, and ended flat. However, looking below the surface revealed the sector rotation which took place today.

The energy space paced today's advance thanks in part to strong earnings from Valero (VLO 43.77, +4.96). In addition, the 1.1% advance in crude oil also contributed to the sector's strength.

After energy, health care, telecoms, and utilities were among the day's top performers as investors rotated into defensive-oriented stocks. In the health care space, Eli Lilly (LLY 54.32, +1.68) and Pfizer (PFE 27.70, +0.86) both gained 3.2% after reporting upbeat earnings.

Today's performance of telecoms expands on the theme of sector rotation. AT&T (T 34.68, +0.55), Sprint Nextel (S 5.64, +0.08), and Verizon Communications (VZ 43.50, +0.73) all gained near 1.5%.

While defensive sectors led the way, the discretionary space underperformed as the SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF (XLY 50.46, -0.20) slipped 0.4%. Ford Motor (F 13.14, -0.64) was a notable laggard after the carmaker shed 4.6% despite an earnings beat. While the company expressed concerns about its European sales, the remarks were in-line with comments made during past earnings calls.

The discretionary sector avoided wider losses thanks to the relative strength observed in homebuilders. This morning, DR Horton (DHI 23.82, +2.51) beat on both earnings and revenue. The strong report was welcomed by investors and shares of DR Horton spiked 11.8%. Meanwhile, the broader SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 29.10, +0.29) gained 1.0%.

Although the technology sector ended with gains, its true performance was masked by the relative strength of Apple (AAPL 458.27, +8.44), which gained 1.9% after announcing a 128GB version of its fourth generation iPad device.

Tech stocks saw broad weakness and VMware (VMW 77.14, -21.18) was a notable laggard. The company, which specializes in technology infrastructure, plunged 21.5% after issuing cautious guidance. In addition, VMware announced plans to cut about 7.0% of its workforce.

Elsewhere in tech earnings, Seagate (STX 33.91, -3.50) fell 9.4% after it too issued guidance which disappointed investors. Note that today's selling came after Seagate rallied nearly 50.0% in the eight weeks leading into yesterday's report.

Volume was slightly above its 50-day average as more than 700 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.33, -0.24) ended lower by 1.8% after the past two session saw the near-term volatility measure settle in the black.

The market received just two economic data points today. The November Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose by 5.5%, while a 5.2% increase had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. This follows the previous month's increase of 4.3%.

Meanwhile, the January consumer confidence reading of 58.6 fell short of the 65.1 expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Though equities slipped immediately after the report hit the wires, the weakness proved to be short-lived.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET. At 8:15 ET, the January ADP Employment Change will be reported. Fourth quarter advanced GDP growth will hit the wires at 8:30 ET, and the Federal Reserve will top off the busy day of economic releases with its rate decision and policy statement scheduled for 14:15 ET. Among earnings of note, Boeing (BA 73.65, -0.35) will announce its quarterly results prior to the open.DJ30 +72.49 NASDAQ -0.64 SP500 +7.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1345/1.91 bln/1102 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1746/718.9 mln/1249

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil extended yesterday's gains as it got a boost from a weaker dollar index. The energy component climbed to a floor session high of $97.82 per barrel and settled at $97.59 per barrel for a 1.2% gain.
Mar natural gas extended losses for a sixth consecutive session as it struggled in negative territory for all of pit trade. Prices rose to a session high of $3.30 per MMBtu but quickly pulled back and eventually settled 1.5% lower at $3.26 per MMBtu.
Feb gold traded higher for the first time in five sessions ahead of tomorrow's Fed decision. In addition, the weaker dollar index following lower-than-anticipated Consumer Confidence data also supported gold's advance. The yellow metal brushed a session high of $1665.00 per ounce and settled for a 0.5% gain at $1660.60 per ounce.
Silver also traded in the black for its entire floor session. It trended higher after brushing a session low of $31.05 per ounce and eventually settled with a 1.4% gain at $31.20 per ounce.

4:55PM Netflix prices $500 mln offering of 5.375% senior notes (NFLX) 169.12 +7.01 : Co announced the pricing of an offering of $500 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.375% senior notes due 2021.
4:43PM Broadcom sees Q1 revenues of approx $1.90 bln +/- 4% (Approx $1.82-1.98 bln), Capital IQ consensus $2.003 bln; sees Non-GAAP product gross margins of flat to down 50 bps q/q (Q4 52.2%) (BRCM) 33.71 -0.35 :

4:10PM Broadcom increases quarterly cash dividend 10% to $0.11 per share from $0.10 per share (BRCM) 33.71 -0.35 :

4:09PM Broadcom beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; raises quarterly dividend 10% to $0.11 (BRCM) 33.71 -0.35 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.76 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.74; revenues rose 14.3% year/year to $2.08 bln vs the $2.06 bln consensus.

4:13PM Pericom Semi beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs below consensus (PSEM) 7.19 +0.21 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $30.4 mln vs the $29.47 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $27.5-30.5 mln vs. $31.66 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:06PM Freescale Semi beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (FSL) 12.39 +0.14 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.15 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.18); revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $957 mln vs the $946.65 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $945-985 mln vs. $943.14 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; gross margin to increase 75-100 bps sequentially.

2:53PM Floor Talk (TALKX) : The US equity market is mixed in the afternoon trade, with some interesting divergences appearing.

Apple (AAPL, 457.44, +7.61, +1.69%) is outperforming again, but the Nasdaq is underwater as losses in the semiconductor and technology hardware groups are holding back the tech-heavy composite
The Dow and S&P 500 are each up 0.5% and near their best levels of the day, bolstered by leadership from the energy (+1.4%), health care (+1.2%), consumer staples (+0.7%), telecom services (+1.6%), and utilities sectors (+0.7%).
The Treasury market is under pressure again (10-yr -9/32 at 1.99%) despite a weak Consumer Confidence report for January.

There are some telling dynamics in today's trade that so far has been accented with moderate volume.

First, the outperformance of the countercyclical sectors underscores a more defensive mindset among today's traders, yet that is not the same as saying there is a risk-off mindset. On the contrary, we are witnessing a rotation within the stock market as opposed to a rotation out of the stock market.

Secondly, the fact that Treasuries have been unable to catch a bid and are near their lows for the day also speaks to the idea that a risk-off mentality has not taken root.

Third, Apple's rebound effort reflects a buy-the-dip (in this case, a very large dip) disposition in the equity market that has been an enduring source of support for the broader market since the beginning of the year.

Fourth, the energy sector is leading the way today, tracking oil prices higher (+$1.03 at $97.47). The energy sector is the best-performing sector year-to-date (+8.6%) as participants trade the prospect of improved global growth and oil demand. However, higher oil prices and the carryover to gas prices could soon become an added drag on consumer spending when paired with the adverse impact of the higher payroll tax. Accordingly, a buying catalyst today could pivot to a selling catalyst in the near future. This will certainly be the case if a geopolitical event prompts a spike in oil prices above $100 per barrel.

2:38PM Cisco Systems slides to new session low of 20.65, hovering just above its 20 ema and last week's low at 20.63/20.61 (CSCO) 20.67 -0.39 :

McAfee, a subsidiary of Intel (INTC), and SUBNET Solutions have joined together to offer the industry's first unified substation security solution to address the growing cyber security needs for electric utility substation integration and automation systems.

Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) has secured a reference design with Texas Instruments (TXN) for smart energy, industrial and networking applications including electric/gas/water meters, street lighting, telematic and tracking systems.

8:02AM Trina Solar to supply 30MW to gestamp solar for two projects in South Africa (TSL) 4.85 : Co announced that it will supply 30MW of photovoltaic modules to Gestamp Solar, one of the world's leading companies in the development and management of photovoltaic parks, for two projects in South Africa. Large-scale solar systems will be installed in South Africa's Northern Cape Province, in the towns of Prieska and De Aar, with the capacity to generate 20MW and 10MW respectively. According to terms of the agreement, deliveries will be made in the third quarter of 2013.

7:43AM EMC guided FY13 EPS below consensus; rev in-line (EMC) 25.20 : Co issues guidance for FY13 (Dec), sees EPS of $1.85, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.90 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY13 (Dec) revs of $23.5 bln vs. $23.58 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

7:11AM EMC beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (EMC) 25.20 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.54 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.52; revenues rose 8.2% year/year to $6.03 bln vs the $5.97 bln consensus.

Non-GAAP Gross Margins came in at 66.2% compared to 64.5% in prior year.
Non-GAAP Operating Margin was 27.5% compared to 26.3% in priuor year period.

Yahoo (YHOO) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.32 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.28, while revenues rose 4.4% year/year to $1.22 billion versus the $1.21 bln consensus. Search revenue ex-TAC was $427 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, a 14 percent increase compared to $376 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. Paid clicks, or the number of clicks on sponsored listings on Yahoo! Properties and Affiliate sites, increased approximately 11 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 and increased approximately 8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2012. Display revenue ex-TAC was $520 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, a 5 percent decrease compared to $546 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

VMware (VMW) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.81 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.78, while revenues rose 22.0% year/year to $1.29 billion versus the $1.28 bln consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the the first quarter with revenues of $1.17-1.19 billion versus the $1.25 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for fiscal year 2013 with revenues of $5.23-5.35 billion versus the $5.43 billion consensus.

Sanmina (SANM) reported first quarter earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.34, while revenues fell 0.5% year/year to $1.5 billion versus the $1.53 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the second quarter with EPS of $026-0.32 versus the $0.32 consensus and revenues of $1.40-1.45 billion versus the $1.49 bln consensus. "First quarter revenue and EPS were below expectations due to weak demand across most of our market segments. Our second quarter guidance reflects seasonality along with continued uncertainty in the macro-environment. Based on the pipeline of new business opportunities and the ramping of new programs in fiscal 2013, we should see improvements in the second half of the year."

Seagate (STX) reported second quarter earnings of $1.38 per share, $0.11 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $1.27, while revenues rose 14.8% year/year to $3.67 billion (co guided rev to at least $3.6 bln on Jan 8) versus the $3.57 billion consensus. "Seagate is executing well in an environment where customer demand forecasting is challenging....Looking ahead, we will continue to manage our business conservatively to the demand environment, focus on profitability and effectively invest for market leadership in storage for mobility..The Board of Directors approved an increase in our quarterly cash dividend to $0.38 per share which was paid on December 28, 2012, rather than in the March 2013 quarter." Seagate Tech Q2 non-GAAP gross margins 27.6% (On Jan 8th company said it expects gross margins to be at least 27% compared to the 31.7% in the same quarter as last year)

Wunderlich upgraded PLX Tech (PLXT) to Buy from Hold and raises their target to $6 from $4. The firm says, with the failed IDT merger now well behind them, PLX has emerged a leaner, more focused and firmly profitable company primarily targeting the PCI express market. Sustainable growth and profitable operating momentum from the Gen2 products should be leveraged by the ramping of Gen3 later this year. They also expect new activist investors to push for another sale of the company and, along with the return to growth and profitability, they expect sentiment in the name to improve.

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Triple Top coming or maybe QE Forever means new highs and a rally that just won't die.



Last month was the highest inflows of new money into mutual funds and ETF's ever. Today we begin February with the new monthly inflows. Despite levels of bullishness that generally point to a short term top the market seems poised to test its previous tops to me if not more.

I don't think this will end well. The amount of debt that is being taken on by the government with no real plan how to balance the budget will eventually lead to real pain in the market in my opinion.

But first, triple top, or new highs?

RtS

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InvestmentHouse Weekend Market Summary:

http://www.investmenthouse.com/weekendmarketsummary.htm

-Stock market gets what it wants: unemployment rate rises even as perception of economy improves, Dow crosses 14K
- Jobs report weak, unemployment up, but benchmark revisions have many dismissing the actual number, much as they dismissed the GDP number.
- Raw jobs numbers, sans adjustments, show a 155K jobs loss.
- Gushing over a 2% at best economy and lower year/year numbers. As the old song says, I guess we will take anything after 2:00 a.m.
- Maybe stocks have done what they always do, just on a grander scale thanks to QE: already priced in the perceived economic bounce.
- 2012 GDP growth total, based upon history, suggests, despite the view the economy is recovery, recession?
- How much better can the news get for now? Gushing over the market hits an extreme. Yes enjoy the ride but be ready for a jolt given everyone is so ebullient.
- Still plenty of stocks in position to move: sentiment may be getting a bit extreme, but market moves can get that way as well.

Unemployment rate rises, Fed billions secure, Dow tops 14K. All the rest of the gushing is noise.

7.9% unemployment, up from 7.8%. Fed's $85B per month tied to a lower unemployment rate. As with the key master and the gatekeeper in 'Ghostbusters,' an explosive combination.

Never mind the headline jobs number missed expectations with a 157K reading versus the 180K expected or that the Work Week was 34.4 versus 34.5 expected and December was revised lower to 34.4 (why add jobs when those you have are working less?).

No, there were reasons to grab hold and run with it. First, though not that important, the benchmark revisions were released, and as in 2011 it turned sub-mediocre job creation into very mediocre job creation. That gave those believing the economy has turned ammunition to gush about how great 2% growth is. Of course they say 2% because we all know that the Q4 GDP reported at -0.1% was really 2% growth. Only a fool would think otherwise, right? Of course in Q4 2011 they thought that 4% growth was the gospel truth only to see it up and disappear like a f**t in the wind in 2012 (from 'The Shawshank Redemption) . . .

The more important reason was stated above: unemployment rate rose and the Fed ties removal of stimulus to a declining number. Bingo.

Sure many explained the move on the benchmark revisions showing strength. Just as they did last year; right, I get that. As the 'coast' economists (Keynesians) beamed about the benchmark revisions, the market, secure that the $85B per month was, well, secure, rallied. A lot. DJ30 crossed above and held the hallowed 14,000 level. Not an all-time high, but getting in the ball park, about 189 points off. SP500 is about 63 points off its all-time high. Kind of a scary pattern if you look at a 20 year chart.

SP500 15.06, 1.01%
NASDAQ 36.97, 1.18%
DJ30 149.2, 1.08%
SP400 0.75%
RUTX 1.01%
SOX 1.89%

Stocks blasted off early and rallied into the afternoon. Lost a bit of ground in the back half of the session, not surprising given the run to this point, the weekend, the usual. Still, solid gains, decent breadth, though there was a volume lag. Bottom line, it was a new month, there is some money to put to put to work from a bit of bond selling, confirmation that the stimulus was here to stay. That money got put to work.

The way the pundits gushed about the economy and the market as the closing bell approached and on the post-market shows you would think there is nothing but upside ahead. The economy is stronger, the market is rallying and getting new money and clear waters are ahead as far as the eye can see.

Question: have they stopped to think the stock market has done what it always does, that is rises in anticipation of this improvement in the economic data? Granted there is no surge in the data, no surge at all for that matter, but with the super steroids of QE1, then QE2, then Twist, and now QE forever, the MARKET has surged and as a little kicker put in a few more points for the economic increase. Or I will say instead, the supposed economic increase.

OTHER MARKETS

Dollar: 1.3665 versus 1.3581 euro. The dollar sold down to a new 14 month low against the euro yet again during this fade, but it did come back from the session low. Now the question, as noted Thursday night, is why? Why if the US is so strong is the currency still falling? And falling against the euro, a continent that stands a few bad breaks from seeing most of the southern countries fall into feudal times.

Bonds: 2.02% versus 1.98% US 10 year treasury. After the jobs data bonds actually rallied with yields falling to 1.94%. What the heck? By the close, however, the ship had righted so to speak and bonds collapsed lower. Unemployment was higher, the Fed will keep buying, but bonds still sold off.

Gold: 1670.60, +8.60. Gold surged to the 50 day EMA but could not hold the move. It did pack in some gain to end the week, holding just over the 200 day SMA on the close. Still putting in a higher low and still needing to break over the 50 day EMA.

Oil: 97.77, +0.28. Still climbing, tapping the 10 day EMA on the low and bouncing, keeping the trend in place. Gasoline prices are surging, up 0.20 in just a few days. Highest gasoline prices on average ever. This could get ugly: taxes higher, gasoline prices digging into more income, disposable or otherwise.

THE NEWS

Take away the seasonal adjustments, take away 270K+ jobs from the reported number.

Jobs are like, so cool! An interesting and somewhat different feature to the unadjusted, actual numbers: the 16 to 19 age group gained jobs while the 55+ group that had led the jobs creation lost just a fraction.

A bit of a change, but the result is the same: the most jobs created are in the low end, the $7 to $14 per hour range.

Look at the raw numbers: 115,000 net jobs lost in the raw numbers, yet the adjustments put the number at a positive 157K. In other words, in reality there were 272,000 jobs less than the adjusted number reported.

It is clear that the numbers of jobs created month in, month out is still slow and stumbling. It is also very clear that the quality of the slow and stumbling number of jobs created every month is the low end. This is NOT A US RECOVERY.

Gushing over 2% growth. My goodness, how European.

I almost had to hose off after the last 5 minutes of the session as called by CNBC and its panel of standup comedians, I mean experts, on the NYSE floor. Even Harry Dent who believes some calamity is to come was bullish near term. A veritable stock market, economic love fest.

A lesson from the 1970's and the 'free love' era: beware of love fests as some nasty side effects can come out of them. Not that I was old enough then to participate. I just read the stories.

There is an old Bobby Bare song 'I've never gone to bed with an ugly woman (but I've sure woke up with a few).'

'I've met more than one morning lying there groaning, crying "Lord what did I do?"
Hanging my head as I slipped from her bed trying hard not to leave any clues.
When I start out the evening I'm being selective,
but I'll take anything after two . . .

'. . . I'll take anything at two . . .' or it seems six years after the start of the recession.

It would seem that after 6 years of rather horrid economic activity we have hit our 'two in the morning' time and we will take anything that may look good. Once again, the annual rights of the spring are here and the pundits are gushing about how the economy is ready to run. This time they are showing even more vigor even though earnings are less vigorous and the data, quite frankly, is not as solid across the board as in late 2011 and early 2012.

It appears that if enough time goes by we will indeed stop being selective and demand what is typical for the US but will settle for what we can get. As Michael Moriarty said in the Clint Eastwood western classic 'Pale Rider,' 'if we take a thousand dollars this time, what price do we put on our dignity next time? $2,000? $1,000? Or just the best offer?'

Is -0.1% GDP that some are calling 2% growth the price of our acquiescence to what is going on?

It almost seems we are willing to take the best offer. The economic data appears to show some improvement, but as noted, it did the same in 2011 and early 2012 but it was even stronger than now. Certainly earnings are not as strong yet.

If you look at each data point cited for its strength, I can show you the same month 2012 was stronger AND data points in other reports that contradict the claimed strength.

The ISM came in at 53.1, topping the 50.5 expected. In January 2012 it was 54.1. ISM national was over 50 but all regions outside Chicago were negative. Regional reports are not used for the national report believe it or not. So you have individual regional reports compiling data for their regions, a much simpler and more accurate task than the national given the scale and scope, yet shallower samples in the national report are used for the overall number. A disconnect between the two and an overall lower ISM than same month 2012.

Michigan Sentiment topped expectations at 73.8 (71.4 expected). In January 2012 it was 75 on the final read. Then there was the Consumer Confidence number tanking to recession levels at 58.6 from 66.7; tremendous plunge in confidence.

Incomes are trumpeted as jumping 2.6% in December, but it is clear that resulted not from great new jobs (the jobs data above proves that), but from incomes such as dividends, pulled forward from 2013. That won't be duplicated.

Durable goods orders jumped 4.6% but inside the numbers it was all defense spending and Boeing planes, and when you look at key capital investment, it was down 4.3% year/year.

Again, IF the pundits on television had the facts it would be shooting fish in a barrel to undermine the notion how strong the economy is. Earnings estimates for Q4 have been steadily cut from where they were going into the season. They are lower. The ISM was lower. Michigan sentiment was lower. Consumer Confidence lower. So much stronger than before, but lower.

Grown men supposedly seasoned in the markets are allowing the hype and euphoria over Dow 14,000 and indices at or closing in on all-time highs to color their judgment and conclusions versus looking at the facts.

Again I am reminded of Madame Defarge in 'The Tale of Two Cities' chiding the peasant for being overwhelmed by the splendor of royalty and forgetting his poverty-stricken plight: while the economy struggles to produce any jobs and millions of citizens are newly on government assistance in the past year we are beguiled by the money printing that has pushed up asset prices, confusing that with real growth.

Thursday Art Cashin cited a little discussed but widely know stat in economic lore: Since 1948 when the records started to be kept, when the year over year real GDP growth is less than 2%, the US has ALWAYS fallen into recession.

You guessed it. The 2012 year over year real GDP growth was 1.5%.

All the excitement over how it is better now than it has been in the recovery even as the obvious facts show the economic data is worse. Even Mr. Shiller of the Case/Shiller Index that is being cited as an indication of recovery is not so sure that is an accurate conclusion drawn from the data. As stated before, the excitement is emotion as they are caught up in the stock indices pushing to 5 year highs and closing in on all-time highs.

I put it this way again: do you think that 2% growth, IF we accept what the optimists are saying about what GDP growth is right now, has driven the stock indices to all time highs (as in the case of SP400, RUTX) or within striking distance as on DJ30 and SP500? If you are intellectually honest you have to answer 'no' and recognize it is massive liquidity pushed into the financial markets that pushed the indices to these highs.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY

INTERNALS

NASDAQ
Stats: +36.97 points (+1.18%) to close at 3179.1
Volume: 1.991B (-7.82%)

Up Volume: 1.54B (+540M)
Down Volume: 475.4M (-724.6M)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Advancers led 2.6 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 1.56 to 1

New Highs: 275 (+140)
New Lows: 26 (0)

S&P
Stats: +15.06 points (+1.01%) to close at 1513.17
NYSE Volume: 690M (-2.95%)

A/D and Hi/Lo: Advancers led 3.19 to 1
Previous Session: Advancers led 1.04 to 1

New Highs: 655 (+402)
New Lows: 59 (+32)

DJ30
Stats: +149.21 points (+1.08%) to close at 14009.79

BREADTH: Not bad at 2.5:1 NASDAQ and 3.2:1 NYSE. Maybe all fluff but good fluff moving many stocks.

VOLUME: Lower but decent after spiking the last day of the month Thursday. Not a bad showing for a new month in the new year, still nicely above average as new money jumped into the market rally.

THE CHARTS

SP500. Broke to a new rally high and post-bear market high after a 2 day test to the 10 day EMA. Regardless of the driver, SP500 is moving ahead and a sighting in on the 1576.09 all-time high hit in late 2007. Markets can run a lot farther than we think they should or can.

NASDAQ. Still below the September high of 3197 but in clearing the recent lateral move it puts everyone on notice it is seeking that level. Gapped upside Friday and closed out near the session high on a seventh straight session of above average volume.

DJ30. Broke 14,000, sold below it a few times, but then held it on the close. It too is seeking an all-time high at 14,198.

DJ20. Rebounded off the 10 day EMA test and sits just below last week's all-time high.

SP400 and Russell 2000. New high for the midcaps after a quick three day test of the 10 day EMA. As noted early last week, the doji pauses were just that, leading to a new bounce.

RUTX small caps: After flopping to the 10 day EMA Wednesday we said whether it held or folded would tell the tale for stocks. It held and Friday gapped and ran to a new all-time high.

SOX. A rather typical test of the 10 day EMA for the SOX and Friday the chips were up with SOX at a new rally high. Still a load of resistance from 2012 prices starting at 425 and running up to 445. Shooting them down one at a time for now.

LEADERSHIP.

Big names. AMZN did not participate. After gapping higher on its earnings but struggling to hold the move it has continued to struggle. AAPL was down as well. EBAY and GOOG pushed ahead with GOOG pushing to a new rally and all-time high above the October peak.

Financials. MA is holding its test after earnings gapped it but it reversed. JPM moved to a new rally high. C and BAC are bouncing from their recent tests. Not huge moves at all, just steady.

Transports. Most faded after the strong run to new highs in the index. They were up but not surging. Are these leaders losing some juice? KSU bounced off the 10 day but below recent highs. JBHT in trucking looks strong. ABFS made us money but after it turned the corner it is not following other truckers. UPS missed its earnings and has stumbled some.

Housing. Some surprise moves as TOL tanked toward the 20 day EMA. PHM did not participate and KBH faded some though it still looks to be a solid leader in the group. Materials are mixed as LPX still struggles, VMC sets up, and PATK looks good having fought off the sellers.

Retail. Still very sloppy given all the consumption and incomes. JWN is very range bound. LULU, FOSL, ZUMZ, BKE, CHS, ANN, ANF. These are not patterns to get all gushy over. On the other hand there are a few of interest, e.g. KIRK, KORS, and even DLTR as it looks to be bottoming for a bounce.

Drugs/Medical. Still interesting. SNSS surging. BMRN hits a new rally high. CELG breaking higher off its test. HNSN looks great for a new bounce as does ACAD.

Technology. FFIV holds some interest but just not sure what it is. IBM is fighting off the dips. May look at it upside as well. In the chips LSCC is interesting at that group continues to recover. FALC in software is a low price stock with some interesting action, but it is also low volume as well.

THE MARKET

SENTIMENT INDICATORS

VIX: 12.9; -1.38
VXN: 13.89; -0.94
VXO: 12.44; -1.55

Put/Call Ratio (CBOE): 0.9; -0.01

Bulls versus Bears

Bulls: 54.3% versus 53.2% versus 51.1% versus 47.8% versus 46.8% versus 45.7% versus 43.6% versus 39.3% versus 37.2% versus 38.3% versus 43.6 versus 41.5% versus 45.7% . Basicallly at the September 2012. Last time the market hit that level SP500 corrected 9% over the next two months. Background: Undercut 35%, the threshold for bullishness, in early June. As noted, hit 34% in early June. It did its job and the market is on the rally. Hard drop to 34 from 39.3% as economic reality and a choppy stock market hit. Off the 55+ level hit in late February. That was the highest level since April and May of 2011, the peak of the post-bear market high. 35% is the threshold level suggesting bullishness. To be seriously bearish it needs to get up to the 60% to 65% level.

Bears: 22.3% versus 22.3% versus 23.4% versus 24.5% versus 24.5% versus 23.4% versus 25.5% versus 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 28.7% versus 27.7% versus 27.7% versus 25.5%. Holding steady at 22.3% as the bears have hit the limit of their optimism, at least for now. Summary: Over 35% is the threshold to be really be a good upside indicator. For reference, bearishness hit a 5 year high at 54.4% the last week of October 2008. The move over 50 took bearish sentiment to its highest level since 1995. Extreme negative sentiment. Prior levels for comparison: Bearishness peaked at 37.4% in September 2007. It topped the June 2006 peak (36%) on that run. That June peak eclipsed the March 2006 high (33%) and well above the 2005 highs that spawned new rallies (30% in May 2005, 29.2% in October 2005). That was a huge turn, unlike any seen in recent history.

MONDAY

I am going to start my look at next week saying this: markets can run or fall a lot farther than we logically or rationally believe they can run. Thus a bit of the Friday post-market euphoria is understandable, but at the same time it is concerning. USUALLY it is the pessimism that drives the move, not the out and out euphoric gushing I heard Friday afternoon. By the time the euphoria sets in, everyone is more or less all in.

There is a notion that if all the money that chased bonds over the past few years started leaving as interest rates continue to rise (and thus has a snowball effect on rates itself), that money will find its way into stocks as the only game in town in terms of getting a return. It sounds very logical and I believe it will happen at least in part.

What pundits such as Harry Dent are worried about is that after that run occurs, what happens next? The money will be all in, the Fed is out of bullets, we have on the upside $100T in debts, and we had better pray that the economy has sparked to more than the 2% growth the experts claim the -0.1% Q4 GDP number actually showed. If not, beware the Zimbabwe effect.

What about Zimbabwe? It enjoyed the best performing markets in the world for a decade. Now the country has $217 of real currency (US dollars) left and its own currency is nothing but stacks of printed paper thanks to hyperinflation taking hold once the country passed the tipping point. What is the inflation rate? Cato Institute puts it at 89.7 sextillion percent. FYI a number in sextillion has 24 zeros after it. Its markets produced great paper gains. The only ones who survived are those who turned the paper into hard assets, something I have been telling you to do the past two years with some of your stock market profits. Take the money the Fed is giving you via its policies pushing stocks higher then convert some of it to hard assets while their prices are cheap. A balanced approach, right?

It's all a lot of fun until your money loses 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000% in value.

But of course we are not Zimbabwe yet and we won't be there next week. So we again go about using the market run to our advantage so we have the dollars to convert into some hard assets just in case inflation gets a grip and things get a little sour.

I would not be surprised at all next week if the market sold. Lots of euphoria over what I have demonstrated are weaker year over year economic numbers mixed with liquidity-induced new market highs. As noted, however, that is a timing issue; euphoria does not mean automatic selling.

To me the market ended the month strong as new money came to stocks to start the year and a lot of funds that are still behind kept the ball rolling in the month. The old saying 'as goes January' has many revved up fearing they are missing out. Then February comes and new money hits Friday and push stocks higher despite a weak jobs report and economic numbers that are worse than January 2012. A lot of new money hit. A bit of letdown is normal.

Thus with the upside gaps Friday we opted not to engage in chasing that bus, figuring we will get a shot to buy this week. Indeed there are quite a few stocks we have looked at that could still participate with or without a test. Don't count out an even more impressive run higher.

That statement is important: with or without. Why? Because even if we believe the market will test that does not mean it will test. As I always say, a market can run farther than we logically think it can or should. Thus if it does not come back there are plays we can make.

INDEED, if this is the start of a shift from bonds to stocks with retail investors coming back on board the rush higher could be impressive for several months. In that case there will be many buying opportunities. We just opted on one day to wait and see if the excessive excitement yields a deeper snap test for a few days and then we can move in with a better risk/reward situation. If not, we see many plays we can use to capture a further move higher for now until that next test comes.

The interesting point is this: if there is a sharp jolt, some of the newcomers will get burned by it and put off again just as it turns back and starts to rally once more. Psychology and markets are a devilish thing. Know what you want to do and do what you know. When stocks say 'buy me' based upon their patterns and their move it is best to listen to them versus our keen logic and wit. You don't have to be too terribly smart to make money in the market, you just have to think about it in the right mindset. Thus even though I think the excitement over the economic data is potentially cataclysmically wrong if the right people believe it is true and make decisions based upon it, I am not going to let that belief cloud my view to what stocks are doing and what a good risk/reward play is.

Have a great weekend!

Support and resistance

NASDAQ: Closed at 3179.10

Resistance:
3197 is the September 2012 post-bear market high
3227 is the April 2000 intraday low
3401 is the May 2000 closing low

Support:
3171 is the October intraday high
The 10 day EMA at 3146
3134 is the March 2012 post-bear market peak
The 20 day EMA at 3124
3104-3112 from August and mid-October peaks.
3101 is the August 2012 high
3090 is the mid-March interim high
3076 is the late April 2012 high and the 1/2013 low after gapping higher
The 2011 up trendline at 3079
The 50 day EMA at 3078
3062 is the December 2012 prior peak
3042 from 5/2000 low and several other price points
3024 is the gap point from early May
3000 is the February 2012 post-bear market high
2999 is the bottom of the August 2012 consolidation
The 200 day SMA at 2997
2988 is the July 2012 high
2977 to 2980 is the bottom of the late October 2012 consolidation, July 2012 peak
2962 is the April 2012 low
2950 is the mid-April closing low
2942 is the mid-June 2012 high
2900 is the March 2012 intraday low
2858 is the late July 2011 peak
2847 is the mid-May 2012 low
2838 from the July 2012 lows

S&P 500: Closed at 1513.17

Resistance:
1539 from June 2007

Support:
1499 from January 2008
The 10 day EMA at 1497
The 20 day EMA at 1484
1475 is the September 2012 high
1471 is the October 2012 intraday high
1466 is the September 2012 closing peak and rally closing high
The 50 day EMA at 1457
1440 from November 2007 closing lows
1434 from early November 2012
1433 from August 2007 closing lows
1427 is the August 2012 peak
1425 from May 2008 closing highs and the October 2012 low
1408 is the late October 2012 range closing low
1406 is the early May 2012 peak
1402.22 - 1400 is the closing low of the August 2012 lateral consolidation
The 200 day SMA at 1399
1378 is the February 2012 peak
1375 is the early July 2012 peak
1371 is the May 2011 peak, the post-bear market high
1363.46 is June 2012 high
1359 is the April 2012 low
1357 is the July 2011 peak
1344 is the February 2011 peak
1340 is the early April 2011 peak
1332 is the early March 2011 peak

Dow: Closed at 14,009.79

Resistance:
14,022 from 7-07 peak

Support:
The 10 day EMA at 13,836
13,692 from 6-2007 peak
The 20 day EMA at 13,687
13,668 from 12-2007 peak
13662 is the October 2012 intraday high
13,653 is the September 2012 high
13,557 to 13,662
The 50 day EMA at 13,447
13,413 from the late September 2012 low
13,300 to 13,331 is the August 2012 post-bear market high
13,297 is the April 2012, prior post bear market high
The 200 day SMA at 13,074
13,058 from the May 2008 peak on that bounce in the selling
13,056 is the February 2012 high
12,716 is the April 2012 closing low
12,524 is a range of support from early 2012 and summertime 2012
12,391 is the February 2011 peak
12,369 is the left shoulder low from May 2012
12,284 is the October 2011 peak
12,258 is the December 2011 peak
12,110 from the March 2007 closing low
12,094 is the April 2011 low
12,035 is the June 2012 base low
The June 2011 low at 11,897 (closing)
11,734 from 11-98 peak
11,717 is the late August 2011 peak

Economic Calendar

February 1 - Friday
- Nonfarm Payrolls, January (8:30): 157K actual versus 180K expected, 196K prior (revised from 155K)
- Nonfarm Private Payrolls, January (8:30): 166K actual versus 193K expected, 202K prior (revised from 168K)
- Unemployment Rate, January (8:30): 7.9% actual versus 7.7% expected, 7.8% prior
- Hourly Earnings, January (8:30): 0.2% actual versus 0.2% expected, 0.3% prior
- Average Workweek, January (8:30): 34.4 actual versus 34.5 expected, 34.4 prior (revised from 34.5)
- Michigan Sentiment - Final, January (9:55): 73.8 actual versus 71.4 expected, 71.3 prior
- ISM Index, January (10:00): 53.1 actual versus 50.5 expected, 50.2 prior (revised from 50.7)
- Construction Spending, December (10:00): 0.9% actual versus 0.5% expected, 0.1% prior (revised from -0.3%)
- Auto Sales, January (14:00): 5.5M prior
- Truck Sales, January (14:00): 6.5M prior

February 4 - Monday
- Factory Orders, December (10:00): 2.4% expected, 0.0% prior

February 5 - Tuesday
- ISM Services, January (10:00): 55.6 expected, 56.1 prior

February 6 - Wednesday
- MBA Mortgage Index, 02/02 (7:00): -8.1% prior
- Crude Inventories, 02/02 (10:30): 5.947M prior

February 7 - Thursday
- Initial Claims, 02/02 (8:30): 360K expected, 368K prior
- Continuing Claims, 01/26 (8:30): 3200K expected, 3198K prior
- Productivity-Preliminary, Q4 (8:30): -1.2% expected, 2.9% prior
- Unit Labor Costs, Q4 (8:30): 2.4% expected, -1.9% prior
- Natural Gas Inventories, 02/02 (10:30): -194 BCF prior
- Consumer Credit, December (15:00): $11.9B expected, $16.0B prior

February 8 - Friday
- Trade Balance, December (8:30): -$45.4B expected, -$48.7B prior
- Wholesale Inventories, December (10:00): 0.3% expected, 0.6% prior

[ReturntoSender]

From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The S&P 500 ended lower by 1.2% after European concerns returned to the forefront. Equities began the day with a broad sell-off as a downbeat European trade weighed. Italian and Spanish indices were the source of continent-wide weakness as controversy continued to plague the troubled sovereigns.

In Italy the MIB lost 4.5% as authorities continue to investigate several financials, including the world's oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Today, five of eight banks listed on the Italian MIB experienced trading halts amid the selloff. However, Monte Paschi was not one of affected names.

Meanwhile, Spain's IBEX fell 3.8% as 34 of 35 listings ended in the red. The markets were rattled as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other members of the People's Party find themselves in the middle of an alleged kickback scheme uncovered by Spain's largest daily newspaper, El Pais. Recent days have seen Mr. Rajoy face resignation calls from opposition leaders as well as Spanish citizens.

European financials saw notable selling pressure with the weakness spilling over to their U.S. counterparts. The SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 17.41, -0.20) slipped 1.1% with Bank of America (BAC 11.48, -0.23) and Morgan Stanley (MS 22.88, -0.63) as two of the weakest majors. The pair saw respective losses of 2.0% and 2.7%.

In addition to financials, the tech sector was one of the day's biggest laggards. The largest sector component, Apple (AAPL 442.32, -11.30) underperformed, and lost 2.5%. Including today's loss, Apple is the weakest S&P 500 performer year-to-date. The computer company has lost 16.8% since the start of 2013.

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil fell deeper into negative territory as a strong dollar index and renewed concerns over the European debt crisis put pressure on prices. The energy component brushed a session low of $95.89 per barrel and settled with a 1.6% loss at $96.18 per barrel.
Mar natural gas climbed up to a session high of $3.35 per MMBtu but retreated towards the unchanged line in afternoon floor trade. It eventually settled with a 0.6% gain at $3.32 per MMBtu.
Apr gold lifted off its session low of $1661.80 per ounce set in morning action and broke into positive territory about two hours later. It continued to inch higher in afternoon action despite strength in the dollar index. The yellow metal settled 0.3% higher at $1676.30 per once, just below its session high of $1678.60 per ounce.
Mar silver, on the other hand, lost momentum as it headed into afternoon floor trade. It pulled-back from its session high of $31.92 per ounce and settled 0.7% lower at $31.72 per ounce.

4:37PM Advanced Energy reports EPS in-line, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS, revs above consensus (AEIS) 15.15 -0.49 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.16 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 0.4% year/year to $113 mln vs the $111.41 mln consensus.

Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.14-0.18, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $105-115 mln vs. $100.30 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Demand for our large scale inverters in the North American market remains strong, and we continue to look at expansion opportunities. In our Thin Films business, we are beginning to see signs that point to recovery in some of our markets as the year progresses. Together, these market conditions position us well for 2014, as we remain committed to our 2014 aspirational goals and actively pursue both organic and inorganic opportunities."

4:14PM Power Integrations beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line (POWI) 38.18 +0.11 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.42; revenues rose 18.7% year/year to $79.2 mln vs the $74.27 mln consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $76-82 mln vs. $75.89 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:07PM SunPower renews partnership with Non-Profit GRID Alternatives (SPWR) 7.68 -0.15 : Co announced that it is renewing its supplier partnership with GRID Alternatives. Under terms of the agreement, SunPower is providing GRID Alternatives with its high efficiency solar panels through a combination of donations and fair market value sales. The renewed commitment will bring solar technology to underserved communities across California and Colorado, generating approximately $4.8 million in energy savings over a 30-year life of the solar power systems. In addition, the partnership will provide thousands of hands-on training opportunities for job seekers through GRID's volunteer-based installation model.

4:07PM Rudolph Tech misses by $0.02, misses on revs (RTEC) 13.36 -0.40 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.17 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.19; revenues rose 24.5% year/year to $54.3 mln vs the $56.94 mln consensus.

*Gross margin was 53% and cash from operations totaled $22.1 mln.

4:01PM MagnaChip Semi announces proposed secondary offering of 5,000,000 shares of common stock by stockholders (MX) 15.81 -0.11 : Co announced that, subject to market conditions, certain of its stockholders (the "selling stockholders") intend to offer and sell 5,000,000 shares of MagnaChip's common stock in an underwritten registered public offering. In addition, the selling stockholders intend to grant the underwriters of the common stock an option to purchase an additional 750,000 shares of common stock. MagnaChip will not receive any proceeds from the sale of its common stock by the selling stockholders. Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS Securities LLC will act as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering. Needham & Company, LLC will act as co-manager.

TranSwitch (TXCC) announced that the co's HDplay TXC-44146 transceiver has been designed into Acto's new high definition projector models DX9100 and DW9100.

9:21AM NXP Semi announces selling shareholders price secondary offering of 30 mln shares of its common stock at $30.35 per share (NXPI) 30.76 :

9:20AM Jabil Circuit to acquire Nypro for $665 mln; transaction is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to core EPS for the balance of fiscal 2013 and accretive to EPS on both a core and GAAP basis in fiscal 2014. (JBL) 19.36 : Co announced an agreement to acquire Nypro, a provider of manufactured precision plastic products for customers in the Healthcare, Packaging and Consumer Electronics industries, with over $1 billion in total annual revenues. The total purchase price is expected to be $665 million, subject to certain adjustments, and is expected to be funded from Jabil's existing cash and credit facilities. The transaction is expected to be neutral to slightly accretive to Jabil's core earnings per share for the balance of fiscal 2013 and accretive to earnings per share on both a core and GAAP basis in fiscal 2014.
9:02AM Cree appoints Mike McDevitt Chief Financial Officer (CREE) 43.94 : Co announces the appointment of Mike McDevitt as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. McDevitt brings more than two decades of finance and operations leadership and has served as Vice President and Interim CFO of the company since May 22, 2012. Prior to his appointment as Interim CFO, McDevitt held several key leadership roles at Cree including Director of Sales Operations from 2011-2012, Director of Financial Planning from 2005-2011 and Corporate Controller from 2002-2005.

Vishay Intertechnology (VSH) announced that Chilisin Electronics, together with its related cos, has entered into a worldwide, non-exclusive license agreement with Vishay for the right to manufacture, have manufactured, use, sell, offer for sale, distribute, import, and export high-current, molded power chokes / inductors under Vishay's patents.

6:18AM NXP Semi announces registered secondary offering of 30 mln shares of common stock by selling shareholders (NXPI) 30.76 : Co announced that certain of its principal stockholders, including affiliates of funds managed or advised by AlpInvest Partners B.V., Apax Partners, Bain Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake Technology Management, have commenced a registered secondary offering of 30 mln shares of common stock pursuant to NXP's shelf registration statement on Form F-3. NXP will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares in the offering. Barclays and Credit Suisse are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering.

08:08 am Cisco Systems target raised to $24 at Oppenheimer: . Oppenheimer raises their CSCO tgt to $24 from $22 ; based on channel checks, they see upside to Cisco's January quarter and a solid pipeline building into 3Q13. Cisco's core routing/switching business is holding against a challenging macro and UCS momentum continues. They did pick up increased competition in low-end switching but believe Cisco's presence in WLAN could turn the table long-term. And opposite last quarter, they detect improving US demand while Europe remains mixed. Supply chain results signal well for networking/storage and while IT spending is slower, the bar is low enough for Cisco to clear. They remain bullish on Cisco's renewed focus, growing software revenue and integrated data center approach.

08:08 am Procera Networks initiated with a Buy at Needham; tgt $25: . Needham initiates PKT with a Buy and price target of $25. PKT is trading at 33x CY13E, but only 21.5x EV/E in a market where there are some beat up valuations. They note Procera and Allot (ALLT) are rapidly gaining share in the DPI systems market from the integrated router vendors such as CSCO , ALU and ERIC. However, the Operating Margins in the estimates are in the mid teens and normal margins in this category are in the 25% plus vicinity. To be clear, results can be lumpy Q-Q and margins volatile, but they think expanding margins will drive the stock higher and provide upside to estimates.

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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Today's session brought resilience to the markets as the key averages recovered the majority of their losses from Monday. The S&P 500 settled higher by 1.0% after spending the duration of the day in a steady climb. The morning sentiment was aided by upbeat European trade where Italian and Spanish markets recovered from yesterday's plunge.

Domestically, seven of ten S&P 500 sectors registered gains in the neighborhood of 1.0%. Tech shares led the way after the sector felt the brunt of Monday's selling. The largest tech stock, Apple (AAPL 457.84, +15.53), outperformed the broader market and ended higher by 3.5%.

The tech sector received some acquisition news today. Dell (DELL 13.42, +0.15) added 1.1% after entering into an agreement to be acquired by Michael Dell-Silver Lake for $13.65 per share. The deal includes a $2 billion loan from Microsoft (MSFT 27.50, +0.05).

Meanwhile, Virgin Media (VMED 45.61, +6.92) jumped 17.9% after the company confirmed its discussions with Liberty Global (LBTYA 67.88, -1.58) regarding a possible transaction.

Among notable tech earnings, ARM Holdings (ARMH 43.69, +1.74) gained 4.2% after beating on revenue. Meanwhile, the broader PHLX Semiconductor Index advanced 1.6%.

In other earnings of note, Archer-Daniel Midlands (ADM 29.38, +0.94) beat on earnings and revenue while Kellogg (K 58.50, +0.40) topped the Capital IQ revenue forecast. The two stocks supported the consumer staples sector, and ended with respective gains of 3.3% and 0.7%.

While staple stocks saw strength across the board, the discretionary sector experienced some pockets of weakness. Restaurant operator Yum! Brands (YUM 62.08, -1.86) shed 2.9% after its quarterly report included cautious guidance. This comes as the company attempts to overcome the negative publicity received after two poultry suppliers provided KFC with chicken containing unapproved antibiotic levels.

Publisher McGraw-Hill (MHP 44.92, -5.38) was another notable laggard in the discretionary space. Shares of the publishing company plunged after the Department of Justice announced plans to file a civil lawsuit against Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill. The Department of Justice is alleging S&P knowingly defrauded investors with its ratings on collateralized debt obligations and mortgage backed securities. McGraw-Hill is down over 20.0% since the charges were announced.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.73, -0.94) declined over the course of the session and shed over 7.0%. The near-term volatility measure ended the session at its 20-day average.

Floor volume at the New York Stock Exchange was slightly below average as 702 million shares changed hands over the course of the day.

Today's economic data had little trading impact as the January ISM Services Index was reported at 55.2, which fell short of the 55.6 forecast by the Briefing.com consensus.

Tomorrow, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET. In notable earnings, CVS Caremark (CVS 51.72, +0.72) and Kraft Foods (KRFT 47.02, +0.62) will report their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.DJ30 +99.22 NASDAQ +40.41 SP500 +15.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1809/2.08 bln/683 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2199/701.9 mln/810

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil traded in positive territory alongside equities, receiving support from the ISM Services Index data released this morning. After trading in a fairly consolidative pattern, the energy component settled 0.5% higher at $96.66 per barrel, slightly below its session high of $97.07 per barrel.
Mar natural gas extended yesterday's gains as it lifted off its session low of $3.32 per MMBtu set in early morning action and trended higher for the remainder of pit trade. It booked a gain of 2.4% as it settled at $3.40 per MMBtu, or just below its session high of $3.41 per MMBtu.
Apr gold popped to a session high of $1687.00 per ounce in early morning action but retreated into negative territory shortly after the equity market opened. It traded there for the remainder of floor trade and ultimately settled 0.2% lower at $1673.70 per ounce.
Mar silver also fell into negative territory despite trading as high as $32.10 per ounce. However, investors stepped in and brought prices back into the black. Silver trended higher in afternoon floor trade and settled at $31.88 per ounce, or 0.5% higher.

5:02PM Cymer announces stockholder approval of merger agreement with ASML; continue to expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2013 (CYMI) 104.31 +0.11 :


4:31PM TTM Tech beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (TTMI) 8.13 +0.18 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.26 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.20; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $382.4 mln vs the $379.75 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.07-0.12, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $310-330 mln vs. $330.32 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"Looking ahead to the first quarter, we expect a normal seasonal decline in our business. Longer term, we remain optimistic as we are clearly differentiated through our focus on leading edge technology, our diversified end markets, and our broad customer base."

4:30PM MIPS Tech stockholders to receive $8.01 in aggregatenet net proceeds from recapitalization and merger (MIPS) 7.90 +0.02 : Co announced that each holder of MIPS common stock will receive $6.21 in cash and 0.226276 shares of MIPS' common stock in the previously announced proposed recapitalization. As a result, the aggregate net proceeds to each holder of MIPS common stock, following the proposed recapitalization and the proposed acquisition by Imagination Technologies Group plc has increased to $8.01 (U.S.) per share in cash.

4:16PM Infinera beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (INFN) 7.51 +0.20 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.05 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.06); revenues rose 14.4% year/year to $128.1 mln vs the $127.42 mln consensus.

"We are optimistic about the outlook for 2013. Interest in our unique 100G converged DWDM/OTN switching solution remains strong, resulting in significant trial activity, which has helped us build a strong pipeline into 2013. A strong focus on winning footprint and gaining market share, balanced with prudent financial management remain our priorities for 2013,"

4:13PM Silicon Image beats by $0.05, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs below consensus (SIMG) 4.58 -0.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues rose 1.5% year/year to $59.6 mln vs the $59.51 mln consensus.

Guidance: Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $59-$61 mln vs. $61.77 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sees Q1 gross margin of ~58% and non-GAAP operating expenses of ~$34.5 mln.

4:05PM Micron launches $440 mln offering of convertible senior notes (MU) 7.87 +0.11 : Co announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other considerations, $220 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2033 and $220 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2033. Micron will use the net proceeds of the offering to finance the repurchase, redemption or repayment of a portion of Micron's 1.875% Convertible Senior Notes due 2014. Pending such uses, Micron intends to invest the net proceeds of the offering in accordance with its existing investment policy.

11:19AM Hewlett-Packard issues statement on Dell's (DELL) leveraged buyout plan; 'believe Dell's customers will now be eager to explore alternatives, and HP plans to take full advantage of that opportunity' (HPQ) 16.36 +0.18 : Co issued the following statement related to Dell's announcement to enter into an agreement to be acquired by Michael Dell and Silver Lake: "Dell has a very tough road ahead. The company faces an extended period of uncertainty and transition that will not be good for its customers. And with a significant debt load, Dell's ability to invest in new products and services will be extremely limited. Leveraged buyouts tend to leave existing customers and innovation at the curb. We believe Dell's customers will now be eager to explore alternatives, and HP plans to take full advantage of that opportunity."


9:20AM Dell acquired by Michael Dell and Silver Lake for $13.65/share in cash (including $2 bln from MSFT, as expected) (DELL) 13.27 : Michael Dell, Dell's Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, in partnership with global technology investment firm Silver Lake, will acquire Dell. Under the terms of the agreement, Dell stockholders will receive $13.65 in cash for each share of Dell common stock they hold, in a transaction valued at ~$24.4 billion. The price represents a premium of 25 percent over Dell's closing share price of $10.88 on Jan. 11, 2013, the last trading day before rumors of a possible going-private transaction were first published; a premium of ~35% over Dell's enterprise value as of Jan. 11, 2013.

The merger agreement provides for a so-called "go-shop" period, during which the Special Committee -- with the assistance of Evercore Partners -- will actively solicit, receive, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations with parties that offer alternative proposals. The initial go-shop period is 45 days.

Following completion of the transaction, Mr. Dell, who owns ~14% of Dell's common shares, will continue to lead the co as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and will maintain a significant equity investment in Dell by contributing his shares of Dell to the new company, as well as making a substantial additional cash investment. The transaction will be financed through a combination of cash and equity contributed by Mr. Dell, cash funded by investment funds affiliated with Silver Lake, cash invested by MSD Capital, L.P., a $2 billion loan from Microsoft (MSFT), rollover of existing debt, as well as debt financing that has been committed by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets, and cash on hand. There is no financing condition.


Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne has ordered a NEXUS Ion Beam Etch System.


Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) announced that GLOBALFOUNDRIES has certified essential Cadence technologies for custom/analog, digital and mixed-signal design, implementation, and verification for its 20-nanometer LPM technology.


7:32AM Vishay beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs in-line (VSH) 11.01 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.11 per share, excluding items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.08; revenues fell 3.8% year/year to $530.6 mln vs the $520.8 mln consensus.

Guidance: "Based on current order trends, we guide for revenues of $520 to $560 million (vs. $531.00 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate) at improved gross margins that benefit from higher volumes and efficiencies."
Q4 comments: "As expected the fourth quarter 2012 was the weakest quarter of the year. But the order intake in the fourth quarter 2012 was higher than in the third quarter 2012 or in the fourth quarter 2011. The normal levels of inventory in the supply chain and a higher degree of confidence at our distribution customers might indicate a potential turn-around of the business. This is supported by a strong book-to-bill ratio for January." Commenting on the outlook for the first quarter 2013 Dr. Paul stated, "Based on current order trends, we guide for revenues of $520 to $560 million at improved gross margins that benefit from higher volumes and efficiencies."

4:30AM ARM Holdings reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (ARMH) 41.95 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of GBP0.04 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of GBP0.04; revenues rose 19.2% year/year to GBP164.2 mln vs the GBP151.4 mln consensus.

Growth in adoption of ARM processor technology

36 processor licenses signed for a broad range of applications, from smartphones and mobile computers to medical devices and microcontrollers
Momentum continues in computing, servers and networking applications with the signing of two ARMv8 architecture licenses, six ARMv8 processor licenses and three ARM Cortex-A15 processor licenses

Growth in shipments of chips based on ARM processor technology

2.5 bln chips shipped
Processor royalty revenue grew 21% year-on-year, driven by strong growth in Cortex-A and Mali -based chips

Outlook
ARM enters 2013 with a robust opportunity pipeline for licensing and a record order backlog. Market share gains in long-term growth sectors look set to continue as our partners introduce new chips based on ARM technology. The global macro-economic environment continues to be characterised by uncertainty and the prospect of low growth for some time. The ongoing influence on consumer and enterprise spending inevitably impacts semiconductor revenues and industry confidence. However, assuming the macroeconomic situation does not deteriorate significantly, we expect group dollar revenues for the full-year to be at least in line with current market expectations.

In recent quarters, the year-on-year growth of ARM's processor royalty revenues has outperformed the semiconductor industry by 15-20%. ARM's royalty revenues for Q1 2013 are based on shipments in Q4 2012. Relevant data for the fourth quarter of 2012 suggests that semiconductor revenues were marginally up year-on-year. Assuming year-on-year royalty growth based on similar trends and given the positive outlook for license revenues, total revenues in the first quarter of 2013 are expected to be around $250 mln.

11:33 am S&P Tech Sector Up 1%, Slightly Outperforming the S&P 500

The tech sector is trading higher today, slightly topping gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 1.0% higher. Within the chip index, POWI (+9.8%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.9% higher today, while the QQQ is up 1.0% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.9% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, EBAY (+1.8%) is showing notable strength, while IBM (-0.1%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings this morning, CARB (+5.2%) and FN (+7.4%) posted quarterly beats and offered downside guidance, POWI (+9.8%) reported a beat and guided inline, BIDU (-10.9%) posted a slight beat with inline guidance and SWI (-5.1%) posted a beat and upside guidance. This morning, NIHD (-4.7%) offered mixed guidance, while CSC (+10.0%) posted a beat and raise.

In news, DELL (+0.9%) will be acquired by Michael Dell and Silver Lake for $13.65/share in cash (including $2 bln from MSFT (+0.4%), as expected). Also, EA (+3.8%) CEO discloses buying 31,300 shares at $15.73 to $16.09 on 2/1, worth ~$500K.

Among rumors, VMED (+16.7%) is in talks to sell to LBTYA (-3.5%), according to reports.

Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ZNGA (+6.3%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill and RBC upgraded MRVL (+1.7%) to Outperform.

Among downgrades, BIDU (-10.9%) was downgraded at Raymond James and Stifel and ACIW (+0.5%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James.

ZNGA (+6.5%) is a notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : Equities ended little changed after spending the vast majority of today's session in the red. The major averages began the day on a cautious note as European indices retreated in anticipation of an update from Monte dei Paschi regarding the size of derivative-related losses suffered by the world's oldest bank. Recent reports have suggested the bank's losses will exceed the original estimate of EUR720 million. This caused selling of the Italian 10-yr as its yield climbed 13 basis points to 4.58%, its worst level since mid-December 2012.

The S&P 500 staged a morning recovery with the help of Apple (AAPL 457.35, -0.49). The largest tech stock spiked off its lows after rumors suggested the company may raise its quarterly dividend. However, with little substance behind the speculation, Apple followed the jump with a steady slide back near its flat line.

While tech shares displayed intraday strength, the discretionary sector hovered in the black throughout the session. Upbeat earnings from Polo Ralph Lauren (RL 174.63, +9.72) as well as Times Warner (TWX 52.01, +2.05) and Walt Disney (DIS 54.52, +0.23) supported the space. In addition, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 322.46, +17.45) added 5.7% after reporting revenue in-line with its January 16 preannouncement.

Elsewhere, the materials sector outperformed the broader market thanks to the relative strength among steel producers. Reliance Steel (RS 70.25, +5.56) surged 5.9% following an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Metals USA (MUSA 20.65, +2.35) for $20.65 per share. The purchase price represents a 12.8% premium to Metals USA's Tuesday closing price, and the total transaction value is estimated at $1.2 billion. Meanwhile, the broader MarketVectors Steel ETF (SLX 49.38, +0.74) added 1.5%.

On the downside, the Dow Jones Transportation Average trailed behind the broader market. The bellwether complex shed 0.2% after CH Robinson (CHRW 60.50, -6.51) reported mixed earnings. The freight carrier fell 9.7%, and was the worst performer within the S&P 500.

Relative strength among airlines prevented transportation stocks from registering further losses. Alaska Air (ALK 47.42, +0.56) and United Continental (UAL 25.32, +1.06) saw respective gains of 1.2% and 4.4%. This morning, Alaska Air reported an 11.8% increase in traffic on a 12.2% rise in capacity, as compared to January 2012.

Today's trade was centered mostly around the unchanged line. Technology (-0.2%) and health care (-0.1%) sectors weighed on sentiment. Meanwhile, telecoms (+0.3%), utilities (+0.2%), materials (+0.2%), and consumer discretionary (+0.2%) shares outperformed.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.42, -0.30) spent the bulk of the day in the black, but the near-term volatility measure turned lower into the close.

Volume was slightly below average as just over 680 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which rose 3.4% to follow last week's 8.1% decline.

Tomorrow, weekly initial and continuing claims as well as preliminary fourth quarter productivity and unit labor costs will all be reported at 8:30 ET. Finally, December consumer credit will be announced at 15:00 ET. Among notable earnings, Credit Suisse (CS 29.55, +0.22) and Sony (SNE 15.82, -0.01) are scheduled to report their results ahead of the opening bell.DJ30 +7.22 NASDAQ -3.10 SP500 +0.83 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1335/1.91 bln/1088 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1767/681.3 mln/1217

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil pushed off its session low of $95.14 per barrel and broke into positive territory as it headed into afternoon floor trade. Support came on slightly better-than-anticipated inventory data that showed a build of 2.623 mln barrels when a build of 2.725 mln barrels was expected. The energy component brushed a session high of $96.99 per barrel and settled just 2 cents below the unchanged line at $96.64 per barrel.
Mar natural gas traded higher for a third consecutive session. It climbed to a session high of $3.46 per MMBtu in late morning action but lost momentum as it headed into afternoon floor trade. Natural gas settled at its session low of $3.42 per MMBtu, or 0.6% higher.
Apr gold came off its session low of $1672.90 per ounce set in early morning floor action and inched higher for most of the session despite a stronger dollar index. The yellow metal settled 0.3% higher at $1678.60 per ounce ahead of tomorrow's ECB meeting.
Mar silver dipped to a session low of $31.60 per ounce shortly after pit trade opened. However, prices inched higher for the remainder of the session and settled just 0.1% lower at $31.85 per ounce.

4:27PM Monolithic Power reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line (MPWR) 23.22 +0.02 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.21 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.21; revenues rose 1.5% year/year to $48.2 mln vs the $48.23 mln consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $49-53 mln vs. $49.37 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Sees Q1 gross margin between 52.8-53.8%.

4:24PM Atmel reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (ATML) 7.14 +0.08 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.07; revenues fell 10.0% year/year to $345.1 mln vs the $341.95 mln consensus. Non-GAAP gross margin was 41.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012 as compared to 43.7% in the immediately preceding quarter and 48.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011.

4:09PM Ixia beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line with prior upside preannouncement (XXIA) 19.80 +0.25 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.24 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.23; revenues rose 48.3% year/year to $124.1 mln vs the $124.07 mln consensus. On 1/14, XXIA raised guidance for Q4, with EPS at or slightly above the $0.20-0.22 prior range and revs of $123.5-124.5 mln.

"Looking forward into 2013, we intend to continue building on our momentum and growing our presence among service providers and enterprises as we help them optimize their networks and datacenters worldwide to accelerate, secure and scale application delivery."

4:07PM TriQuint Semi beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (TQNT) 5.34 +0.03 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.02; revenues rose 2.9% year/year to $233.6 mln vs the $222.76 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.14)-(0.12), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.00 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $180-190 mln vs. $205.28 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

O2Micro International (OIIM) was issued 20 claims under U.S. patent for its Multi-cell Battery Pack Monitoring systems and methods.

8:03AM Spreadtrum Comms announces expansion of its partnership with Facebook (FB) (SPRD) 17.20 : Co announced the expansion of its partnership with Facebook to enable users around the world outside of China to access Facebook on Android smartphones designed with Spreadtrum's smartphone chipsets.

With this partnership, Spreadtrum will collaborate with Facebook on platform testing and optimization of the user's application experience on Spreadtrum's mobile platform prior to the release of new versions of Facebook software.
Spreadtrum already distributes Facebook software as a pre-loaded application as part of its turnkey smartphone platform.
The distribution agreement covers handsets shipped to global end markets with the exception of China.

7:31AM Photronics narrows first quarter fy 2013 revenue guidance to the high end of the range (PLAB) 6.04 +0.14 : Co sees Q1 revs of $99-100 mln, prior $96-100 mln, vs. $98.49 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "High-end semiconductor orders began to strengthen late in the quarter and flat panel display (FPD) photomask demand gained momentum as the quarter progressed," stated Constantine ("Deno") Macricostas, Photronics' chairman and chief executive officer. "The IC business was soft at the beginning of the quarter, as we anticipated, but demand for high-end masks accelerated in January."

7:05AM ATMI reports EPS in-line, misses on revs (ATMI) 20.24 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding a gain of $0.07 per diluted share for a contingent consideration adjustment, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.32; revenues rose 10.9% year/year to $100.1 mln vs the $101.22 mln consensus.

Commentary:

Q4
"Fourth quarter revenues grew as the incremental contribution from our SDS Direct transaction last year more than offset the negative effects of lower wafer starts. Demand for other products in Microelectronics was down as lower wafer starts were coupled with our customers' efforts to manage inventory at the end of the year. LifeSciences revenues grew 20% over the prior year quarter as customers continue to make progress toward launching high-volume manufacturing using our single-use technologies."
FY13
"We expect wafer starts to grow modestly for the full year of 2013, with most growth occurring during the second half of the year after declining sequentially in the first quarter due to seasonal patterns."

ASML Holding NV (ASML) announced that Cymer (CYMI) stockholders voted to approve the previously announced merger agreement, dated October 16, 2012, among Cymer, ASML Holding NV and certain affiliates of ASML, at the special meeting of Cymer stockholders held on 5 February 2013.

1:24AM MagnaChip Semi prices 5,000,000 shares of common stock at a price per share of $14.50 (MX) 14.82 :

10:49 am S&P Information Tech Sector trading higher today by 0.4%
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing slight relative strength with the SOX trading only 0.2% lower. Within the chip index, POWI (+3.3%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.2% lower today, while the QQQ is down 0.5% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.4% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+1.0%) is showing notable strength, while ORCL (-0.9%) and AAPL (-0.9%) are under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, CSGS (+4.5%) posted a beat and offered upside guidance, game makers ZNGA (+3.5%) and TTWO (+10.4%) both reported beats and guided lower, and TRMB (-4.9%) posted a beat with downside guidance. In news, TTWO (+10.4%) announced a share repurchase program in addition to earnings. Among rumors, HPQ (+1.5%) was mulling breaking up the business, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, EA (+0.4%) was upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee and Argus upgraded ITRI (+3.6%) to Buy. Among downgrades, TRMB (-4.9%) was downgraded to Neutral at JP Morgan, GOOG (+0.4%) was downgraded to Neutral at Hilliard Lyons and CCOI (-2.8%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James. AKAM (+1.4%) and DRIV (-1.0%) is a notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Equities ended the day with slim losses causing the S&P 500 to slip 0.2%. Though stocks saw little change at the outset of the session, sellers were able to take control within the first 30 minutes, and drive the major averages to their respective lows.

The early broad-based weakness came about as the dollar index spiked to its highs in the 80.20 area. The sharp move took place after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi voiced concerns over the strength of the euro. The common currency weakened immediately following his remarks, falling to its session low near 1.3400 against the greenback.

The morning dollar strength had a negative impact on commodities and commodity-related stocks. As such, the materials sector was pressured, and ended as the weakest performer today. The SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF (XLB 39.15, -0.21) shed 0.5%.

High-beta sectors underperformed for the duration of the day. Technology stocks lagged despite the outperformance from Apple (AAPL 468.22, +13.52). The largest tech stock saw intraday strength after activist investor, David Einhorn, said the company has a cash problem, thinking it can never have enough of it, and its preferred stock should yield 8.0%. Shares of Apple spiked to fresh highs in afternoon trade after the company responded to Mr. Einhorn's comments by saying it will "thoroughly evaluate" the proposal.

Elsewhere in technology, microprocessor manufacturers lagged as disappointing earnings from Peregrine Semiconductor (PSMI 9.41, -1.57) weighed. The broader PHLX Semiconductor Index ended lower by 0.6%.

In notable tech earnings, Akamai Technologies (AKAM 35.26, -6.32) plunged 15.2% after the company missed on the top line and issued cautious revenue guidance.

Today, retailers reported their same store sales for the month of January. While most names reported results ahead of the Retail Metrics consensus, their stocks received a mixed investor response. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 67.47, -0.31) settled lower by 0.5%.

While retailers and discretionary stocks traded in-line with the broader market, consumer staples outperformed. The sector was the top advancer thanks to relative strength of cigarette producers. The largest industry component, Philip Morris (PM 89.82, +2.13), rose 2.4% after beating on earnings.

Defensive-minded trade also favored the utilities sector which held slight gains throughout the day. Sector component Exelon (EXC 31.37, +0.39) added 1.3% despite guiding first quarter earnings below consensus. However, the electricity producer expects a better second half with full-year 2013 earnings in-line with analyst expectations.

As mentioned earlier, the materials (-0.6%) sector was the weakest, followed by energy (-0.5%), financials (-0.4%), and telecoms (-0.4%). Meanwhile, consumer staples (+0.5%), and utilities (+0.2%) outperformed.

Volume was below-average with just 664 million shares changing hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The day's economic data did little to influence the trading sentiment. Initial claims were reported at 366,000, which puts the figure right inside of last year's 350,000-400,000 range.

Meanwhile, the 2.0% drop in fourth quarter productivity was the result of a very small increase in output (0.1%) combined with a solid increase in hours worked (2.2%).

Lastly, unit labor costs increased 4.5% after declining 2.3% in the third quarter. That was the biggest increase in unit labor costs since increasing 6.4% in Q1 2012.

Tomorrow, the December trade balance will be reported at 8:30 ET while December wholesale inventories will be announced at 10:00 ET. Among notable earnings, CBOE Holdings (CBOE 34.30, +0.07) and Louisiana-Pacific (LPX 20.49, +0.25) will report their quarterly results ahead of the opening bell.DJ30 -42.47 NASDAQ -3.35 SP500 -2.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 934/1.87 bln/1519 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1283/663.7 mln/1706

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil fell off its session high of $97.21 per barrel and into negative territory as the dollar index gained strength on ECB President Mario Draghi's concerns over the recent rise in the euro as he discussed trade imbalance. The energy component brushed a session low of $95.55 per barrel and settled with a 0.8% loss at $95.84 per barrel.
Mar natural gas fell for the first time this week following weaker than anticipated inventory data that showed a draw of 118 bcf when a draw of 128 bcf was expected. It traded as high as $3.43 per MMBtu in early morning action but tumbled to a session low of $3.28 per MMBtu moments before settling 3.8% lower at $3.29 per MMBtu.
Apr gold traded in volatile fashion as investors digested President Draghi's comments. The yellow metal slid to a session low of $1663.40 per ounce as the dollar index rose. Despite recovering into positive territory and brushing a session high of $1683.90 per ounce, gold pulled-back as it headed into afternoon pit trade and ultimately settled 0.4% lower at $1671.40 per ounce.
Mar silver also fell to a session low of $31.30 per ounce following Draghi's comments and later climbed to a session high of $31.90 per ounce. Like gold, it lost steam in late morning action and closed 1.4% lower at $31.40 per ounce.

4:23PM Microchip beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; Co raises quarterly dividend to $0.353, from $0.352 (MCHP) 33.49 -0.51 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.41 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.39; revenues rose 26.4% year/year to $416 mln vs the $411.78 mln consensus.

Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.45-0.49, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.42 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $420.2-432.47 mln vs. $416.85 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:13PM Amtech Systems misses by $0.10, misses on revs (ASYS) 3.96 0.00 : Reports Q1 (Dec) loss of $0.44 per share, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.34); revenues fell 61.9% year/year to $9.4 mln vs the $10.33 mln consensus.

At December 31, 2012, the Company's total order backlog was $14.7 million, compared to total backlog of $18.7 million at September 30, 2012. Total backlog at December 31, 2012 includes $10.1 million in solar orders and deferred revenue, compared to solar backlog of $13.8 million at September 30, 2012. Foreign exchange caused a $0.4 million increase in backlog in the December 2012 quarter due to the strengthening of the Euro versus the US dollar. Backlog includes deferred revenue and customer orders that are expected to ship within the next 12 months.
Gross margin in the first quarter of fiscal 2013 was 15%, compared to negative 63% sequentially and 29% in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. The negative gross margin in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 reflects $9.2 million of inventory write-downs and losses on inventory purchase commitments. The lower margins compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2012 resulted primarily from lower sales volumes.

4:12PM Amtech Systems receives ~ $5.3 mln in new solar orders for its diffusion processing systems (ASYS) 3.97 +0.01 : Co announced that its solar subsidiary, Tempress Systems, Inc., has received approximately $5.3 million in new solar orders for its diffusion processing systems from one of its key customers, a top tier solar company in Asia, for their new multi-hundred megawatt capacity expansion. These systems are expected to ship within the next six months.

4:12PM Solera beats by $0.05, beats on revs; raises FY13 EPS in-line, raises FY13 revs above consensus (SLH) 55.41 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.69 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.64; revenues rose 7.2% year/year to $209.23 mln vs the $201.99 mln consensus. Co issues raised guidance for FY13, sees EPS of $2.60-2.66 from prior guidance of $2.52-2.60 vs. $2.61 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; raises FY13 revs to $829-835 mln from prior guidance of $810-818 mln vs. $816.45 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $90.5 million, a 6.7% increase over the prior year second quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $84.9 million. After adjusting for FX Changes, Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter increased by 8.8% over the prior year second quarter Adjusted EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA margin for the second quarter was 43.3%, a 23 basis point decrease over the prior year second quarter Adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.5%.

4:12PM Tessera Tech misses by $0.01, beats on revs (TSRA) 17.55 -0.29 : Reports Q4 (Dec) loss of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.23); revenues fell 6.2% year/year to $53.2 mln vs the $51.51 mln consensus.

2013 Company Cost Cutting Efforts
The Company has reviewed its corporate general and administrative expense in relation to its two operating businesses and has determined that it is appropriate to take steps to reduce corporate G&A spending in the range of 17% to 21% by the end of year 2013 as compared to 2012. These cost reductions are in addition to the cost-cutting measures announced in November 2012. The Co has determined that the Silent Air Cooling business is not a strategic fit for its ongoing business, and management will be looking at a possible sale of, or other strategic alternatives for, this business. In February 2013, the Company announced a salary freeze until the summer, when compensation will be reevaluated.

4:08PM Riverbed Technology reports EPS in-line, beats on revs (RVBD) 20.10 -0.21 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.29 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.29; revenues rose 17.0% year/year to $238.7 mln vs the $234.83 mln consensus.

"Revenue dollars grew more than $111 million for the full year, with most of that growth from WAN optimization. Performance management was the fastest growing product line, underpinning our strategic decision to acquire OPNET. Looking ahead, we will benefit from continued growth in our WAN optimization business and performance management product suite. I am very optimistic as we enter our first year as a billion-dollar-plus revenue company."

3:38PM Apple issues statement: As of next week co will have executed $10 bln of $45 bln repurchase plan (AAPL) 457.60 +2.90 : "By early last year, Apple's cash balance had built to a point beyond what we needed to run our business and maintain flexibility to take advantage of strategic opportunities, so we announced a plan to return $45 billion to shareholders over three years. As of next week we will have executed $10 billion of that plan.

We find ourselves in the fortunate position of continuing to generate large amounts of cash, including $23 billion in cash flow from operations in the last quarter alone.

Apple's management team and Board of Directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. As part of our review, we will thoroughly evaluate Greenlight Capital's current proposal to issue some form of preferred stock. We welcome Greenlight's views and the views of all of our shareholders.

As a part of our efforts to further enhance corporate governance and serve our shareholders' best interests, Proposal #2 in our proxy includes some recommended changes to our articles of incorporation. These changes were recommended independently of Greenlight's proposal and would not preclude Apple from adopting their concept. Contrary to Greenlight's statements, adoption of Proposal #2 would not prevent the issuance of preferred stock. Currently, Apple's articles of incorporation provide for the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock by the Board of Directors without shareholder approval. If Proposal #2 is adopted, our shareholders would have the right to approve the issuance of preferred stock. As such, Proposal #2 has the support of many of our shareholders.

We remain committed to having an ongoing dialogue with our shareholders to get perspectives around return of capital and driving shareholder value."

8:34AM Apple: Greenlight Capital urges Apple shareholders to oppose co's proposal that would impede Apple's ability to unlock shareholder value (AAPL) 457.35 : Greenlight Capital announced that it is urging fellow shareholders of Apple Inc. (AAPL) to oppose the Company's attempt to amend its corporate charter. Greenlight is voting AGAINST Proposal 2 in Apple's proxy, which would eliminate preferred stock from Apple's charter and thus restrict the Board's ability to unlock the value on Apple's balance sheet. Greenlight is asking all shareholders to also vote AGAINST Proposal 2 at the upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on February 27, 2013.

A shareholder since 2010, Greenlight believes Apple is a phenomenal company filled with talented people creating iconic products that consumers around the world love. However, like many other shareholders, Greenlight is dissatisfied with Apple's capital allocation strategy. Greenlight believes that the amendment to Apple's charter in Proposal 2 unnecessarily limits the Board's flexibility to distribute preferred stock as a means of unlocking shareholder value. As such, Proposal 2 does not merit shareholder support. "We believe Apple must examine all of its options to unlock the growing value of its balance sheet for all shareholders," said David Einhorn, President of Greenlight.

"Over the past several months, we have had an ongoing dialogue with Apple regarding one option to do so, namely the creation of a new security, a perpetual preferred stock that would be distributed at no cost to Apple's existing shareholders, and would provide an attractive, sustainable dividend while preserving Apple's financial resources to pursue its business strategy."

Yesterday, in response to Greenlight notifying Apple that it intended to contest Proposal 2, management offered to re-evaluate Greenlight's idea, but refused to withdraw the charter amendment to eliminate preferred stock. Greenlight is hopeful that when Apple and its advisers review the idea afresh, it will see the merits and act to unlock value for all shareholders.

Nonetheless, Greenlight believes that eliminating preferred stock from the Company's charter hinders Apple's ability to implement value creating options. Mr. Einhorn continued, "Apple should unlock shareholder value through the distribution of perpetual preferred stock. We ask shareholders to vote against Proposal 2, thereby expressing to Apple and its Board their support for unlocking value and significantly improving Apple's current capital allocation policy."

Texas Instruments (TXN) introduced a low-voltage power management unit with the fastest start-up time of under 10 mS for demanding instant-on automotive applications, such as graphical cluster, infotainment and advanced driver assistance systems.

TranSwitch (TXCC) announced that the co's HDplay transceiver has been designed into Edge I&D's new Interactive LED-LCD Display Whiteboards.

1:31AM Micron prices $270 mln of its 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2033 and $270 mln of its 2.125% convertible senior notes due 2033 (MU) 7.95 :
1:09AM Advanced Semi reports Jan consolidated net revenues of NT$16.61 bln, +22.5% YoY, down 12.6% sequentially (ASX) 4.03

08:40 am Peregrine Semi downgraded to Perform at Oppenheimer following earnings: . Oppenheimer downgrades PSMI to Perform from Outperform and removing its $24 tgt. PSMI reported 4Q revenue/EPS of $63.0M/$0.19 vs. consensus $62.3M/$0.21. First-quarter guidance of $44.5M (down 30% Q/Q) is starkly below consensus $57.2M. Opco is incrementally concerned with the increasing competitive threat from SWKS/RFMD. Its checks indicate SWKS won the ASM in iPad Mini. The threat that SWKS proliferates this ASM across 2013 iPhone/iPad refreshes significantly clouds PSMI's visibility and creates uncertainty/volatility in the shares. At the same time, Opco believes RFMD has bolstered its position in antenna tuning.

RealD (RLD) reported third quarter GAAP loss of $0.08 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus GAAP Estimate of ($0.10); revenues fell 4.3% year/year to $46.9 mln vs the $49.31 mln consensus. Estimated box office generated on RealD-enabled screens(1) for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 was $643 million ($299 million domestic, $344 million international). In the third quarter of fiscal 2012, estimated box office generated on RealD-enabled screens was $532 million ($256 million domestic, $276 million international).

TriQuint Semi (TQNT) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.04 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.02, while revenues rose 2.9% year/year to $233.6 million versus the $222.76 million consensus. Co issued downside guidance for the first quarter with EPS of ($0.14)-(0.12), excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.00 Capital IQ consensus and revenues of $180-190 million versus the $205.28 million Capital IQ consensus.

Yelp (YELP) reported a fourth quarter loss of $0.08 per share, $0.07 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.01), while revenues rose 65.5% year/year to $41.2 million versus the $40.26 mln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for the first quarter with revenues of $44.0-44.5 versus the $44.53 mln Capital IQ consensus. The company issued upside guidance for fiscal year 2013 with revenues of $210-212 million versus the $207.31 million consensus. Cumulative reviews grew 45% year over year to more than 36 million at the end of 2012. Average monthly unique visitors grew 31% year over year to approximately 86 million. Active local business accounts grew 68% year over year to approximately 39,800. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2012 was approximately $1.8 million, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $15,000 for the fourth quarter of 2011. "We believe 2013 will be a tipping point for our brand in Europe as Yelp continues to become a trusted local resource. Our mobile strategy will remain a top priority as engagement increases, and we will continue to focus on the business owner, creating more ways to measure the value of Yelp leads."

Akamai Tech (AKAM) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.49, while revenues rose 16.7% year/year to $377.87 million versus the $381.12 mln consensus. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2012 was $173 million, up from $157 million in the prior quarter, and $148 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the fourth quarter was 46%, up a point from the prior quarter and consistent with the same period last year. The company also announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a $150 million extension of its share repurchase program, effective for a 12-month period beginning on February 1, 2013. During the fourth quarter of 2012, under its current share repurchase program, the Company spent approximately $30 million repurchasing 0.8 million shares of its common stock, at an average price of $37.53 per share.

Digital River (DRIV) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.28, while revenues fell 9.6% year/year to $101.3 million versus the $98.2 mln consensus. The company issued downside EPS guidance for the first quarter with EPS of $0.18-0.22, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.25 consensus and revenues of ;$101-104 million versus the $98.03 million consensus.

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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The S&P 500 ended today's quiet session with a slim loss of 0.1%. Equities started the day amid mixed European trade where Italian and Spanish stocks trailed behind the remainder of the region. The relative weakness came amid continued political turmoil.

In Italy, markets showed caution as Silvio Berlusconi speculated his party may be closing in on the lead ahead of the February 24/25 general elections.

Meanwhile, Spanish equities underperformed as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continued facing increased scrutiny following allegations of having accepted secret payments from his party's slush fund. A weekend poll indicated almost 80% of all respondents have found Mr. Rajoy's explanations to be insufficient.

As Italian and Spanish markets underperformed, their respective yields climbed higher. The Spanish 10-yr added six basis points to 5.43% while Italy's 10-yr yield rose seven basis points to 4.62%.

While the two sovereign yields climbed higher, U.S. interest rates were little changed. The 10-yr yield eased fractionally to 1.946%.

Like Treasury yields, U.S. equities saw little change during today's session. With no earnings or economic data of note, stocks drifted sideways throughout the day. Below average volume contributed to the uneventful trade as some traders were absent due to the aftermath of snowstorm Nemo.

On the downside, the energy sector underperformed, and the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 78.19, -0.39) slipped 0.5%. Energy stocks spent the session near their lows despite an intraday spike in the price of crude oil. The energy component jumped to near $97.00 after comments from the president of Germany's Bundesbank resulted in dollar weakness, thus helping the dollar-denominated crude. The greenback lost ground to the euro after Mr. Weidmann said there is "no indication euro is seriously overvalued."

While energy stocks were unable to lift off their lows, the defensively-oriented utilities spent the day in a steady climb. The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 36.78, +0.09) added 0.3% amid relative strength from electricity producers. Exelon (EXC 31.42, +0.34) settled higher by 1.1%.

Though utilities registered modest gains, the financial sector was the top performer. The space hovered near its highs thanks to relative strength of major components. Citigroup (C 43.15, +0.47), Wells Fargo (WFC 35.26, +0.38), and U.S. Bank (USB 34.09, +0.44) all gained in excess of 1.0%. Prior to the open, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank were upgraded to 'Buy' at Stifel Nicolaus.

In sector news, Nasdaq (NDAQ 30.38, +0.91) rose 3.1% after reports indicated the exchange has held preliminary talks with Carlyle Group regarding a possible deal to go private. However, negotiations have stalled over a purchase price.

Looking at the S&P 500 breakdown, financials (+0.4%), utilities (+0.2%), and technology (+0.1%) saw relative strength. Meanwhile, energy (-0.6%), consumer discretionary (-0.3%), and materials (-0.2%) lagged.

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to the January Treasury budget. This report will be released at 14:00 ET. Among notable earnings, Avon Products (AVP 17.28, +0.43) and Coca-Cola (KO 38.61, -0.16) will report their quarterly results ahead of the open.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $32 billion in 3-yr notes.DJ30 -21.73 NASDAQ -1.87 SP500 -0.92 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1203/1.51 bln/1254 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1345/497.0 mln/1641

3:30 pm : Commodities were mixed today, while the dollar index was relatively muted. Crude oil was a real notable mover following a big rally above the $97 level.

Prior to the big rally, crude oil was just slightly lower on the session, falling as low as $94.97, but managed to hit a HoD of $97.09/barrel just a couple of minutes before the close.

Metals sold off earlier this morning as gold, silver and copper all fell to the day's session lows and only recovered a modest amount of those losses. Apr gold fell as low as $1644.10 and ended the down 1.1% at $1648.90. Mar silver hit the day's low at $30.82, ending the day 1.7% lower at $30.92. Copper lost 1.1% at $3.72/lb.DJ30 -20.06 NASDAQ -3.28 SP500 -0.83 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1110/1296.6 mln/1337 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1239/342 mln/1730

O2Micro International (OIIM) announced that it was issued 14 claims under United States patent number 8,278,876 for its Battery Pack Current Monitoring system.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) announced an agreement with Delphi Automotive (DLPH) that extends the two companies' long-term relationship in automotive electronics by making NXP one of Delphi's strategic core suppliers. This agreement encompasses a variety of automotive semiconductor applications including infotainment and networking solutions.

10:02 am S&P Information Technology sector -0.2%
The tech sector is trading lower today, roughly inline with losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 0.3% lower. Within the chip index, POWI (-3.5%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.2% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.3% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+0.7%) is showing notable strength, while GOOG (-1.3%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings this morning, MITL (-2.0%) lowered guidance. In news, GOOG (-1.3%) disclosed Friday night that Eric Schmidt adopted a stock trading plan; Eric Schmidt intends to sell up to ~3.2 mln shares of Class A common stock. Among rumors, AAPL (+0.7%) is developing a new smart watch, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, VMW (-1.6%) was upgraded to Overweight at Evercore. Among downgrades, POWI (-3.4%) was downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank, S (-0.4%) was downgraded to Neutral at Atlantic Equities, CCUR (-7.5%) was downgraded to Hold at Noble and LNKD (-0.6%) was downgraded to Market Perform at Northland. TWTC (-0.5%) is a notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

Google (GOOG) disclosed "On November 15, 2012, Eric E. Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, adopted a stock trading plan in accordance with the guidelines specified in Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Google's Policy Against Insider Trading. In February 2013, sales of Eric's Google stock may commence under this trading plan. As of December 31, 2012, Eric beneficially owned ~7.6 mln shares of Class A and Class B common stock, which represented ~2.3% of Google's outstanding capital stock and ~8.2% of the voting power of Google's outstanding capital stock. Under the terms of this trading plan, Eric intends to sell up to ~3.2 mln shares of Class A common stock. If, during the one-year period for which this trading plan is effective, Google declares and pays a dividend of one share of Class C capital stock for each share of Class A common stock and Class B common stock then outstanding, then a number of shares of Class C capital stock equivalent to the number of shares of Class A common stock subsequently sold, will also be sold under the trading plan. On a pro forma basis as of December 31, 2012, assuming all shares of Class A common stock (and excluding the shares of Class C capital stock to be issued pursuant to the dividend) had been sold under the trading plan, Eric would have owned ~4.4 mln shares, which would have represented as of such date ~1.3% of Google's outstanding capital stock and ~5.0% of the voting power of Google's outstanding capital stock."

Allot Comms (ALLT) announced that it has been awarded an approximately $6 million project from a Tier 1 operator which will be implemented in phases over several years. The project is based on Allot Service Gateway Parental Control Service. The project, awarded by a Tier-1 mobile operator in EMEA, highlights the importance mobile operators place on the cloud-based services which Allot's product suite enable.

Salesforce.com (CRM) target was raised to $200 from $190 at BMO Capital Markets. The firm believes demand was solid but not great in December and early January but then ramped materially in the last two to three weeks of the quarter, enough to enable CRM to at least modestly exceed its January quarter reported DR growth guidance of "mid- to high 20%." They are raising their price target based on co's strong bookings momentum.

Dell (DELL) disclosed Board concluded that the proposed all-cash transaction is in the best interests of stockholders; go-shop process provides stockholders an opportunity to determine if there are alternatives that are superior to the present offer. In the course of its deliberations, the Special Committee of Dell's Board considered an array of strategic alternatives. In addition to working through financial and capital allocation issues with its independent financial advisors, the Committee retained a prominent management consultant to help it assess the Company's strategic position. Based on that work, the Board concluded that the proposed all-cash transaction is in the best interests of stockholders. The transaction offers an attractive and immediate premium for stockholders and shifts the risks facing the business to the buyer group. In addition, and importantly, the go-shop process provides stockholders an opportunity to determine if there are alternatives that are superior to the present offer.

F5 Networks (FFIV) announced that it has agreed to acquire LineRate Systems, a developer of software defined networking services. Through this acquisition, F5 gains access to LineRate's layer 7+ networking services technology & intellectual property. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the company's operating results.

08:35 am Cisco Systems target raised to $22 at FBR Capital ahead of earnings: . FBR Capital raises their CSCO tgt to $22 from $20. The firm expects CSCO's January-ending quarter to benefit from several positive trends, including: improving worldwide macroeconomic trends, an increasingly stronger spend by enterprise accounts, a faster pace of new product announcements, and a return to more normal spending patterns by service-provider customers. The firm expects that these trends are likely to help Cisco post results that are better than the consensus expectation (F2Q13) and extend the company's momentum into the April quarter (F3Q13) as management continues to work to transform the business into an IT platform vendor, diversifying away from slower-growing routing and switching revenue streams.

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From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : The major averages finished today's session on a mixed note despite this morning's strength. The Dow slipped 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out gains of 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.

The S&P 500 began the day on an upbeat note amid strength in industrials and discretionary shares. The two sectors outperformed after Comcast (CMCSA 40.13, +1.16) reported strong earnings and announced the acquisition of General Electric's (GE 23.39, +0.81) 49% stake in NBCUniversal. General Electric gained 3.6%, and settled near its highs while Comcast added 3.0% after being up as much as 7.6% in early trade.

General Electric contributed to the relative strength of the industrial sector, which ended as the top performer. Elsewhere in the space, 3D Systems (DDD 65.61, +2.54) advanced 4.0% after President Obama spoke positively about the three-dimensional printing industry during last night's State of the Union address.

President Obama also called for an increase of the federal minimum wage to $9/hour. This proposal weighed on restaurant operators where many workers earn minimum wage. McDonald's (MCD 94.00, -1.10) lost 1.2% and other quick service restaurants lagged as well. Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD 76.55, -4.52) fell 5.6% after missing on the bottom line. In addition, the company is expected to face a difficult year with high wing costs responsible for the cautious outlook.

The weakness among restaurant stocks weighed on the discretionary sector and negated some of the strength provided by the shares of Comcast.

Afternoon trade saw underperformance from financials after several sector components notched fresh multi-year highs yesterday. Bank of America (BAC 12.17, -0.07) and Citigroup (C 44.00, -0.35) led the space during yesterday's action, but ended today's session with respective losses of 0.6% and 0.8%.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 12.98, +0.34) climbed throughout the session, but slipped off its highs into the close. Meanwhile, the VIX term structure saw the biggest rise in May and June futures contracts.

Volume remained below average, but today's total of 657 million shares represented the most active session so far this week.

Treasury yields crept higher following today's 10-yr auction which priced at 2.046%, its highest since March 2012. The bid-to-cover ratio came in at 2.68, which was below the 12-auction average of 2.99. Although demand from indirect bidders lagged, primary dealers ended up with nearly 48% of today's supply. The 10-yr settled at 2.023%, its highest level in 10 months.

Overseas, the Bank of England raised its inflation forecast. However, Governor Mervyn King said the central bank will not hike interest rates in response as doing so would risk derailing a "slow but sustained" recovery.

Mr. King's comments were followed by reports which indicated some European Central Bank officials are worried the recent strength of the euro will hamper the recovery in crisis states. These reports were met with a quick rebuttal from Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble who said another major crisis could develop if countries continue to flood the world with money.

Currency-related comments are likely to continue through the weekend with the G20 summit set to begin on Friday.

Today's economic news had little trading impact. December business inventories rose 0.1%, which was slightly lower than the 0.3% rise expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Elsewhere, January retail sales climbed 0.1%, in-line with expectations. Though retail sales met expectations, this report is likely to be watched in the coming months in order to assess the impact of the expiration of the payroll tax cut as well as higher tax rates for top earners.

In other news, export prices, excluding agriculture, increased by 0.5% in January after they had decreased by 0.2% during the prior month. Excluding oil, import prices increased by 0.2%, which followed the 0.1% decrease experienced in the prior month.

Tomorrow's economic data will be limited to weekly initial and continuing claims. This report will be released at 8:30 ET. General Motors (GM 28.67, +0.12) and PepsiCo (PEP 71.50, -0.67) are among the notable names scheduled to report their quarterly results prior to the open. The U.S. Treasury will auction off $16 billion in 30-yr bonds.DJ30 -35.79 NASDAQ +10.39 SP500 +0.90 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1347/1.75 bln/1095 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1765/657.1 mln/1251

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil fell into negative territory off its session high of $98.05 per barrel following inventory data that showed a build of 0.56 mln barrels when a build of 2.55 mln barrels was anticipated. The energy component then traded just below the unchanged line but dipped again in the last hour of pit trade. Crude oil brushed a session low of $96.63 per barrel moments before settling with a 0.3% loss at $97.03 per barrel.
Mar natural gas extended yesterday's gains as it lifted off its session low of $3.26 per MMBtu and trended higher for its entire floor session. It eventually settled with a 2.5% gain at $3.31 per MMBtu.
Apr gold old popped to a session high of $1655.00 per ounce following retail sales and export prices data released this morning. However, the yellow metal quickly pulled-back and trended lower for the remainder of floor trade. It settled 0.3% lower at $1644.70 per ounce, or slightly above its session low of $1642.20 per ounce.
Mar silver also rose to a session high of $31.19 per ounce moments after floor trade opened and fell into negative territory by mid-morning action. It eventually settled 0.5% lower at $30.88 per ounce.

4:39PM Brocade awarded a new permanent injunction for trade secret theft against A10 Networks (BRCD) 5.76 0.00 : Co announced that a San Jose federal court denied A10 Networks' request to stay a new permanent injunction originally issued on Jan. 23, 2013, barring A10 from using four Brocade trade secrets a jury found A10 stole and incorporated in its AX series products. This order followed previous rulings for a permanent injunction for patent infringement as well as $60 million in damages for copyright infringement. As a result, A10 is now prohibited from "making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing any AX series application delivery controller" that uses Brocade's trade secrets or infringes on Brocade's patents.

4:32PM Photronics beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line (PLAB) 6.40 +0.04 : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues fell 11.0% year/year to $99.84 mln vs the $99.33 mln consensus.

"As anticipated, the soft demand environment for integrated circuit (IC) photomasks continued into our seasonally slow first fiscal quarter. Flat panel display (FPD) photomask demand gained strength during the quarter resulting in sales of $99.8 million, which was at the high end of our guidance range."

4:19PM Ingram Micro reports 4Q12 results (IM) 18.46 -0.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.73 per share, excluding $0.07/share in items. CapIQ consensus is for EPS of $0.58. Revenue increased 14.3% year/year to $11.38 bln. CapIQ consensus for revenue is $10.83 billion.

*The co's recently completed acquisitions of BrightPoint, Inc. and Aptec Holdings Ltd. contributed approximately $1 billion and $75 million, respectively, to the quarter's revenues. BrightPoint's contribution to the company's fourth quarter revenues is for the period of October 16, 2012 through the end of the quarter, reflecting BrightPoint's acquisition by Ingram Micro on October 15, 2012.

* Outlook: For the 2013 year, the company currently expects worldwide consolidated revenue growth in the low teens, which includes the contribution of BrightPoint. The company affirms its expectations for BrightPoint to be accretive to 2013 earnings by at least 18 cents per diluted share, which includes absorbing approximately $37 million, or 17 cents per diluted share, in additional amortization of intangibles, but excludes integration costs.

For the 2013 first quarter, the company currently expects to experience a seasonal sequential decline in worldwide consolidated revenue consistent with the past two years and expects a seasonal sequential decline in gross margin due primarily to lower contribution from Ingram Micro logistics services.

4:16PM NetApp beats by $0.11, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 EPS above consensus, revs in-line (NTAP) 35.82 +0.41 : Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.67 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.56; revenues rose 4.1% year/year to $1.63 bln vs the $1.62 bln consensus.

Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.65-0.70, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.65 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $1.7-1.8 bln vs. $1.75 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:12PM Cisco Systems beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line (CSCO) 21.14 +0.17 : Reports Q2 (Jan) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items but including a tax benefit of ~$60 mln or $0.01 per share as a result of the reinstatement of the U.S. federal R&D tax credit on January 2, 2013., $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.48; revenues rose 5.0% year/year to $12.1 bln vs the $12.06 bln consensus.

Co will guide for Q3 on the conf call at 4:30 ET.

"Cisco delivered record earnings per share this quarter and record revenue for the 8th quarter in a row in a challenging economic environment. We continue to drive the innovation, quality and leadership our customers expect, and we remain focused on consistent returns to our shareholders."

Cash flows from operations were $3.3 bln for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $2.5 bln for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $3.1 bln for the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $46.4 bln at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $45.0 bln at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $48.7 bln at the end of fiscal 2012.

Cisco repurchased ~25 mln shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $20.15 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $500 mln. As of January 26, 2013, Cisco had repurchased and retired 3.8 bln shares of Cisco common stock at an average price of $20.34 per share for an aggregate purchase price of ~$76.9 bln since the inception of the stock repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program is ~$5.1 bln with no termination date.

4:11PM Amkor beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (AMKR) 4.99 +0.16 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.12; revenues rose 5.7% year/year to $723 mln vs the $704.22 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of ($0.03) - $0.09 vs. $0.08 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $640-690 mln vs. $647.81 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Q4 Gross margin 18%.
"We are pleased with our fourth quarter results and improvements over the prior quarters of 2012 and the fourth quarter of 2011...Bolstered by solid sales growth in mobile communications, results for the quarter came in at the higher end of our expectations. Our investments in support of the communications end market are paying off and continue to gain momentum. Driven by notable strength in smartphones and tablets, our communications revenue grew 12% and represented nearly 50% of our total sales in 2012."

Outlook:

Co sees Q1 Gross margin of 14% to 17%.
"Looking ahead to the first quarter 2013, we are seeing seasonal demand patterns with revenues expected to be down 5% to 11% from the fourth quarter 2012...We are currently planning capital additions of around $450 million for 2013 primarily to support the growth opportunities we see in mobile communications. We are also planning an additional $150 million of spending for the acquisition of land and construction relating to our previously announced new factory and R&D center in South Korea."

4:06PM Applied Materials beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (AMAT) : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues fell 28.1% year/year to $1.57 bln vs the $1.55 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.09-0.15 vs. $0.11 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs up 15-25% sequentially (roughly $1.81-1.97 bln) vs. $1.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:02PM Diodes beats by $0.07, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs in-line (DIOD) 19.96 +0.22 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.13 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.06; revenues rose 14.0% year/year to $163.3 mln vs the $163.7 mln consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $157-170 mln vs. $162.55 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"As we look to the first quarter of 2013, we are expecting a slightly better than seasonal quarter with revenue ranging between $157-170 mln, or flat plus or minus 4 percent sequentially. We expect gross margin to be 25% , plus or minus 2 percent. Operating expenses are expected to be 23% of revenue, plus or minus 1 percent. We expect our income tax rate to range between 10-17%, and shares used to calculate GAAP EPS for the first quarter are anticipated to be ~47.0 mln."

8:32AM Apple updates processors & prices of MacBook Pro With retina display; 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display now starts at $1,499 for 128GB of flash, and $1,699 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash (AAPL) 468.44 : Co announced that it is making the MacBook Pro with updated processors and lower starting prices. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now starts at $1,499 for 128GB of flash, and $1,699 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash. The updated MacBook Pro with Retina display and MacBook Air models are available today through the Apple Online Store.

6:16AM MEMC Elec beats by $0.08, beats on revs (WFR) 4.50 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.08 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.00); revenues fell 8.8% year/year to $704.3 mln vs the $668.91 mln consensus.

Semiconductor Materials
Semiconductor Materials revenue was flat year-over-year as increased shipments offset price declines. Year-over-year pricing declined across all diameters but was most significant among large diameter products. Volumes of both 200mm and 300mm semiconductor wafers increased year-over-year, while smaller diameter product volumes declined. The sequential revenue decline was primarily driven by lower volumes for smaller diameter wafers.

Solar Energy
The year-over-year GAAP revenue decline was driven by lower solar project and solar wafer sales.

Outlook
The co will provide its 2013 first quarter and full year outlook, as well as detailed commentary regarding its strategy and 2013 business plan, at its 2013 Capital Markets Day on March 13, 2013.

NETGEAR (NTGR) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.55 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.55; revenues rose 0.4% year/year to $310.4 million versus the $307.8 million consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the first quarter, sees Q1 revs of $290-305 mln versus the $317.8 million consensus Estimate. Non-GAAP operating margin was 11.4% in Q4 vs 12.4% last year and 11.5% in Q3. "While the slowdown faced in the second half of 2012 has been challenging, we remain committed to pursuing the growth opportunities we see in Smart Homes, Next Generation Service Providers and 21st Century SMBs." Expects Q1 non-GAAP operating margin between 11-12%, which does not include revenues or costs associated with the AirCard acquisition.

10:41 am Tech Sector trading higher by +0.3% today
The tech sector is trading higher today, along with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 0.5% higher. Within the chip index, WFR (+5.7%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.4% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.7% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.6% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+1.6%) is showing notable strength, while QCOM (-0.4%) is lagging.

In tech earnings last night, NTGR (-7.2%) posted an inline qtr and guided lower, RAX (-16.0%) reported a modest miss, LPSN (-4.8%) reported a slight beat and guided just below consensus, RKUS (-14.6%) posted a solid beat but guided shy of consensus, and RATE (-18.9%) missed qtrly and forward ests. This morning, NICE (+0.8%) reported a mixed qtr and guided below consensus and VG (+6.6%) posted a slight beat. In news, CMCSA (+6.2%) announced plans to acquire GE's (+3.7%) 49% common equity ownership interest in NBCUniversal for approx. $16.7 bln, increased its dividend by 20% to $0.78 and announced plans to repurchase $2 billion of its stock in 2013. Among rumors, VOD (-1.4%) is planning on purchasing Kabel Deutschland, according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, GRPN (+5.3%) was upgraded to Buy at Sterne Agee, WU (+0.7%) was upgraded to at Credit Agricole and Compass Pt., PRO (+22.4%) was upgraded to Buy at Craig Hallum following earnings and CMCSA (+6.2%) was upgraded to Outperform at Credit Suisse. Among downgrades, Needham downgraded RKUS (-14.2%) to Hold, SAPE (-6.9%) was downgraded at Citigroup, First Analysis, and William Blair, CLWR (0.0%) was downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James and Stifel downgraded RAX (-16.0%) to Hold. AMAT (+0.4%), CTL (-0.3%), CSCO (+0.2%), IM (+0.3%), NTAP (-0.6%), and NVDA (+1.3%) are notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The major averages ended little changed with the S&P 500 tacking on 0.1%. The benchmark index settled slightly higher after spending the majority of the day within a two point range of yesterday's close.

Equities slipped out of the gate with the downbeat European trade contributing to early weakness. This resulted from disappointing fourth quarter GDP reports from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Portugal. All five countries saw their economies contract during the final three months of 2012. As a result, the fourth quarter Eurozone GDP shrank 0.6% quarter-over-quarter.

The weak economic data reported across the continent resulted in euro weakness, which translated into strength for the U.S. dollar. The dollar index added 0.4% and settled near 80.40.

Despite the strength of the greenback, crude oil, which is denominated in dollars, climbed as well. The energy component rose 0.4% and settled just under $97.40. The strength of crude contributed to the energy sector ending as the day's top performer.

Another pocket of strength could be found in consumer staples. The space outperformed for the duration of the session after H.J. Heinz (HNZ 72.50, +12.02) agreed to be acquired by a group including Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 99.21, +1.24) for $28 billion, or $72.50 per share. The agreed price represents a 20% premium to Heinz's Wednesday close.

Elsewhere among staples, Constellation Brands (STZ 43.75, +11.87) soared 37.2% after the company, along with Anheuser Busch Inbev (BUD 92.76, +4.50), announced a revised agreement for the divesture of the U.S. business of Grupo Modelo. This after the original deal was met with a regulatory challenge.

Though Heinz and Constellation Brands registered outsized gains, the remainder of the sector saw some weakness. Mondelez (MDLZ 26.57, -1.18) slid 4.3% after missing on earnings and revenue. In addition, the company guided full-year earnings below analyst expectations. Meanwhile Whole Foods (WFM 87.50, -9.40) fell 9.7% after its upbeat report was combined with narrowed comparable store sales growth estimate.

While energy and consumer staples outperformed, the telecom sector was the biggest laggard. Century Link (CTL 32.27, -9.42) plunged 22.6% after the company missed on the bottom line and lowered its quarterly dividend to $0.54 from $0.725. Additionally, Century Link received six downgrades following its quarterly report.

Telecoms (-2.0%) underperformed notably while utilities (-0.9%) and materials (-0.4%) also registered losses. On the upside, energy (+0.5%) led the way as financials (+0.3%), health care (+0.2%), and consumer staples (+0.1%) outperformed as well.

Today's floor volume saw the highest total of the week, but with 670 million shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, activity remained below average.

Although overseas economic data was plentiful, that was not the case in the U.S. The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 341,000, which was lower than the 365,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The reading was a positive surprise but it remains unclear if today's figure was an aberration or a break from the 350,000-400,000 range observed for much of last year. Note that next week's report may see some distortions related to snowstorm Nemo.

Also worth noting, afternoon headlines indicated that Senate Democrats have reached a deal to avoid the package of automatic spending cuts known as the 'sequester.' Earlier, House Speaker John Boehner said he will find a way to work on the sequester if the Senate acts.

On Friday, the February Empire Manufacturing Index will be released at 8:30 ET; December net long-term TIC flows will be reported at 9:00 ET; January industrial production and capacity utilization will cross the wires at 9:15 ET. The last economic report of the day will come from the University of Michigan where the preliminary February Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey will be released at 9:55 ET. In earnings, Campbell Soup (CPB 38.72, +0.54) and Kraft Foods (KRFT 47.16, +0.39) will report their quarterly results.DJ30 -9.52 NASDAQ +1.78 SP500 +1.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1316/1.86 bln/1135 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1506/671.8 mln/1497

3:30 pm :

Mar crude oil traded higher on Middle East concerns as the IAEA and Iran failed to reach an agreement over the country's nuclear program. The energy component rose to a session high of $97.71per barrel despite an advance by the dollar index. It pulled-back slightly in afternoon pit trade and settled 0.3% higher at $97.30 per barrel.
Mar natural gas fell off its session high of $3.28 per MMBtu following inventory data that showed a draw of 157 bcf when a larger draw of 162 bcf was anticipated. It continued to trend lower and eventually settled with a 4.5% loss at $3.16 per MMBtu.
Apr gold dropped sharply into negative territory on jobless claims data released early this morning. Despite recovering back into the black minutes later, prices sold-off into the red again as a stronger dollar put pressure on the yellow metal. Gold trended lower for the remainder of pit trade and settled with a 0.6% loss at $1635.50 per ounce, just above its session low of $1633.50 per ounce.
Mar silver also slid into the red after trading as high as $31.05 per ounce in morning floor action. It brushed a session low of $30.21per ounce and later settled with a 1.7% loss at $30.36 per ounce.

4:12PM Agilent misses by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS, revs below consensus; lowers FY13 guidance below consensus (A) 44.58 -0.17 : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.63 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.67; revenues rose 2.8% year/year to $1.68 bln vs the $1.69 bln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.64-0.70 vs. $0.74 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $1.74-1.77 bln vs. $1.79 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Co issues downside guidance for FY13, lowers EPS to $2.70-3.00, excluding non-recurring items, from $2.80-3.10 vs. $3.05 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; lowers FY13 revs to $6.9-7.1 bln from $7.0-7.2 bln vs. $7.12 bln Capital IQ Consensus.

"While we currently face some volatility in our end-markets, we remain excited by our long-term prospects, including opportunities in emerging markets. Agilent will continue to invest in R&D to ensure that we maintain the cutting-edge products and technology leadership that our customers expect from us." Electronic Measurement first-quarter revenues declined 7 percent compared with the prior year, primarily due to an anticipated decrease in the communications market. Operating margins were 17 percent. Chemical Analysis revenues were down 1 percent compared with a year ago, driven by soft environmental markets. Operating margins were 21 percent. Life Sciences revenues were up 2 percent over a year ago. Pharma saw modest growth, while academic/government markets were flat. Operating margins were 15 percent. Diagnostics and Genomics grew 145 percent, 4 percent excluding the effects of the Dako acquisition. Operating margins were 13 percent.

4:08PM Brocade beats by $0.05, beats on revs (BRCD) 6.00 +0.24 : Reports Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.21 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.16; revenues rose 5.0% year/year to $588.73 mln vs the $575.62 mln consensus. GAAP gross margin was 63.5% and non-GAAP gross margin was 66.0% in Q1 2013, compared to 61.5% and 64.8% in Q1 2012, respectively. Brocade management will host a conference call to discuss fiscal first quarter results and fiscal second quarter outlook today at 2:00 p.m. PT

10:01AM Jabil Circuit and UPS to provide global reverse logistics services (JBL) 19.58 -0.14 : UPS (UPS) announced that it has formed a strategic collaboration with Jabil Circuit. UPS's logistics and distribution business unit and Jabil Aftermarket Services will provide optimized reverse logistics solutions for return and repair programs to high-tech original equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprises on a global scale.

Mellanox Technologies (MLNX) announced that its InfiniBand solutions have been selected by NASDAQ OMX NLX to enable trading.

SEMATECH announced that Cabot Microelectronics (CCMP) has joined its Front End Processes program and will collaborate with SEMATECH to develop advanced solutions for emerging CMP applications.

Extreme Networks (EXTR) is shipping this week the ExtremeXOS v15.3, the co's single modular Operating System for data center, campus BYOD and the cloud.

Applied Materials (AMAT) reported first quarter earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.03, while revenues fell 28.1% year/year to $1.57 billion versus the $1.55 billion consensus. The company issued upside guidance for the second quarter with EPS of $0.09-0.15 versus the $0.11 consensus and revenues of up to 15-25% sequentially (roughly $1.81-1.97 billion) versus the $1.79 billion consensus.

Cisco (CSCO) reported second quarter earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items but including a tax benefit of approximately $60 million or $0.01 per share as a result of the reinstatement of the U.S. federal R&D tax credit on January 2, 2013., $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.48, while revenues rose 5.0% year/year to $12.1 billion versus the $12.06 billion consensus. "Cisco delivered record earnings per share this quarter and record revenue for the 8th quarter in a row in a challenging economic environment. We continue to drive the innovation, quality and leadership our customers expect, and we remain focused on consistent returns to our shareholders." Cash flows from operations were $3.3 bln for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $2.5 bln for the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $3.1 bln for the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $46.4 bln at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $45.0 bln at the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $48.7 bln at the end of fiscal 2012. Cisco repurchased ~25 mln shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $20.15 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $500 mln. As of January 26, 2013, Cisco had repurchased and retired 3.8 bln shares of Cisco common stock at an average price of $20.34 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $76.9 bln since the inception of the stock repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program is approximately $5.1 bln with no termination date.

Zillow (Z) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.02 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.00), while revenues rose 72.4% year/year to $34.3 million versus the $31.35 million consensus.

NetApp (NTAP) reported third quarter earnings of $0.67 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.56, while revenues rose 4.1% year/year to $1.63 billion versus the $1.62 billion consensus. The company issued mixed guidance for the fourth quarter with EPS of $0.65-0.70, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.65 consensus and revenues of $1.7-1.8 billion versus $1.75 billion consensus.

ValueClick (VCLK) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.56 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ consensus Estimate of $0.52, while revenues rose 13.8% year/year to $199.57 million versus the $198.12 million consensus. The company issued guidance for the first quarter, sees EPS of $0.39-0.41, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.38 consensus and revenues of $165-168 million versus the $165.25 million consensus. Adjusted-EBITDA of $77.1 million, up 26 percent from Q4 2011. "We are seeing the early results of our initiatives to elevate our conversations with advertisers to become a more strategic and persistent marketing partner, while also executing on our goals of strong organic growth and profitability...We expect 2013 to be a watershed year for ValueClick, and we look forward to articulating our vision and strategic initiatives in greater detail at our March 14th analyst and investor day."

09:29 am NVIDIA downgraded to Hold at Needham: . Needham downgrades NVDA to Hold from Buy following earnings. As the firm alluded to in their preview last week, they cut their Tegra numbers to reflect an inventory correction in the non-Apple tablet market and lackluster sellthrough of MS Surface RT tablets. Mgt. cited the transition from Tegra 3 to Tegra 4 as the reason for the Q/Q decline in Tegra sales in CQ13; but they believe the aforementioned factors plus share loss at the Google platform to QCOM are more likely to be the reasons for the soft expectations. They expect shares to trade flat for the foreseeable future until we see evidence that Tegra can generate a return on investment and gain share in the handset market.

10:54 am S&P Infomration Tech trading lower and in line with the broader market
The tech sector is seeing little change today. Semiconductors, however, are outperforming slightly as the SOX trades higher by 0.1%. Within the chip index, AMD (-2.2%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% higher today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are both down 0.1%.

Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+0.3%) is outperforming slightly. Tech earnings continued rolling in last night. AMAT (+0.6%), ANGI (+30.2%), CSCO (-1.6%), NVDA (-0.4%), Z (+12.5%) beat on EPS and revs. ITRI (-8.7%) missed on EPS. This morning, DWRE (+9.5%) and SYNT (+0.8%) beat on earnings and revenue. In news, DELL (+0.4%) will hold a shareholder meeting to discuss the potential LBO. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, HLIT (+2.8%) was upgraded to Buy at Maxim Group. RAX (-0.9%) was upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James. EZCH (+5.2%) was upgraded to Outperform at Oppenheimer. ARUN (+7.1%) was upgraded to 'Overweight' at Morgan Stanley. Among downgrades, PLCM (-0.9%) was downgraded to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus. BCOR (+2.1%) was downgraded to 'Hold' at Craig Hallum. DELL (+0.4%) was downgraded to Market Perform at Raymond James. NVDA (-0.4%) was downgraded to Hold at Needham. IFNNY (-0.2%) was downgraded to Underweight at HSBC. A (-0.2%), CRAY (-0.1%), LOGM (+0.7%), QLIK (+0.4%) are some of the notable tech names scheduled to report after the close.

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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 15-Feb-13

Dow +8.37 at 13981.76, Nasdaq -6.63 at 3192.03, S&P -1.59 at 1519.79

The major averages ended today's session on a mixed note. The Dow added 0.1% while S&P 500 shed 0.1% after late-afternoon weakness pressured the index to its lows.

Equities saw little change into the final two hours of trade when reports indicated Wal-Mart (WMT 69.30, -1.52) saw a slow start to its February sales. Bloomberg obtained emails from the company's vice president of finance and logistics who said "February [month-to-date] sales are a total disaster." The vice president also said this was the worst start to a month he has seen in his seven years with the company.

Shares of Wal-Mart fell to session lows on heavy volume, but managed to recover a portion of their losses. In addition, the news weighed on other retailers. Target (TGT 61.71, -1.02) and Family Dollar (FDO 55.94, -0.67) saw respective losses of 1.6% and 1.2%. Meanwhile, the broader SPDR Retail ETF (XRT 67.47, -0.26) lost 0.4% after being up as much as 1.4% in earlier trade.

The consumer staples sector saw activity throughout the day. This morning, Campbell Soup (CPB 39.40, +0.68) J.M. Smucker (SJM 92.40, +0.24), and Kraft Foods (KRFT 47.17, +0.01) reported earnings. All three names beat on the bottom line and Kraft was the only one of the three which missed on revenue.

Consumer stocks fared relatively well into the afternoon and the discretionary sector was the top performer until the Wal-Mart news spilled over to several other retail names.

Contributing to the early strength was an upbeat January consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan. According to the preliminary reading, the survey rose to 76.3 from its prior reading of 73.8. Today's report surprised to the upside as the Briefing.com consensus had expected the survey would climb to 73.5.

While consumer stocks were in focus for the bulk of the day, the energy sector was the day's biggest laggard. The SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 78.45, -0.91) lost 1.2% amid weakness in crude oil. The energy component fell 1.4% to $95.99.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 12.51, -0.15) settled in the red despite a brief jump into positive territory. However, the term structure of VIX futures reveals some buying interest at the distant end of the curve as June, July, September, and October contracts settled with slight gains.

When the dust from today's active afternoon-and not so active remainder of the day-settled, defensively-oriented sectors ended in the lead. Telecoms (+0.3%), utilities (+0.3%), health care (+0.2%), and consumer staples (+0.2%) outperformed while energy (-1.1%), financials (-0.3%), and technology (-0.1%) lagged.

Today's volume represented the highest total of the week as 940 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. However, February options expiration did its part to push the total above its 50-day average, which sits in the neighborhood of 700 million.

Comments from this weekend's G20 summit taking place in Russia have begun making the rounds. Earlier, Jens Weidmann of Germany's Bundesbank said the euro is not overvalued and the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is not talking down the common currency. Meanwhile, Mr. Draghi said euro exchange rate is not a policy target for the central bank.

Looking at the day's remaining economic data, January industrial production decreased 0.1%, which was worse than the 0.2% uptick that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. Meanwhile, capacity utilization hit 79.1%, which was better than the 78.9% expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

February Empire Manufacturing Survey climbed to 10.0 from its prior reading of -7.8. The report was a positive surprise as the Briefing.com consensus expected the survey to rise to 0.0.

Lastly, net long-term TIC flows showed an inflow of $52.3 billion in foreign funds into USD-denominated assets during November.

Note that equity and bond markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

On Tuesday, the NAHB Housing Market Index will be reported at 10:00 ET. Among earnings of note, Barnes & Noble (BKS 13.03, -0.11) and RadioShack (RSH 3.27, -0.06) will report their quarterly results prior to the open.

Week in Review: S&P 500 Inches Higher

On Monday, the S&P 500 ended a quiet session with a slim loss of 0.1%. Equities started the day amid mixed European trade where Italian and Spanish stocks trailed behind the remainder of the region. The relative weakness came amid continued political turmoil as Silvio Berlusconi speculated his party may be closing in on the lead ahead of the February 24/25 general elections. Meanwhile, Spanish equities underperformed as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continued facing increased scrutiny following allegations of having accepted secret payments from his party's slush fund. A weekend poll indicated almost 80% of respondents have found Mr. Rajoy's explanations to be insufficient. Nasdaq (NDAQ 31.07, +0.47) rose 3.1% after reports indicated the exchange has held preliminary talks with Carlyle Group regarding a possible deal to go private. However, negotiations have stalled over a purchase price.

Tuesday saw equities settle on a mixed note. The Dow climbed 0.3% and registered its highest close of the year while the S&P 500 added 0.2%, and Nasdaq shed 0.2%. The day got off to a slow start as the major averages spent the entire morning near their respective unchanged levels. However, key indices were able to climb to their highs in afternoon trade as financials paced the advance. The financial sector led throughout the session, and the S&P 500 Financials Index climbed above 240 for the first time since October 2008. Bank of America (BAC 12.03, -0.10) and Citigroup (C 43.84, -0.48) both gained near 3.0% as the two supported the space.

Wednesday's session also ended on a mixed note despite initial strength. The Dow slipped 0.3%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq eked out gains of 0.1% and 0.3% respectively. The S&P 500 began the day on an upbeat note amid strength in industrials and discretionary shares. The two sectors outperformed after Comcast (CMCSA 41.24, +0.90) reported strong earnings and announced the acquisition of General Electric's (GE 23.29, -0.12) 49% stake in NBCUniversal. General Electric gained 3.6%, and settled near its highs while Comcast added 3.0% after being up as much as 7.6% in early trade.

On Thursday, the major averages ended little changed with the S&P 500 tacking on 0.1%. The benchmark index settled slightly higher after spending the majority of the day within a two point range of Wednesday's close. Equities slipped out of the gate with the downbeat European trade contributing to early weakness. This resulted from disappointing fourth quarter GDP reports from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Portugal. All five countries saw their economies contract during the final three months of 2012. As a result, the fourth quarter Eurozone GDP shrank 0.6% quarter-over-quarter. H.J. Heinz (HNZ 72.29, -0.22) surged 20% after agreeing to be acquired by a group including Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 99.77, +0.56) for $28 billion, or $72.50 per share. The agreed price represents a 20% premium to Heinz's Wednesday close.

 
 Index	   Started Week  Ended Week  Change  % Change	YTD % 
 DJIA	     13992.97	 13981.76   -11.21    -0.1	6.7 
 Nasdaq	      3193.87	  3192.03    -1.84    -0.1	5.7 
 S&P 500	1517.93	  1519.79     1.86     0.1	6.6 
 Russell 2000   913.67  	   923.15     9.48     1.0	8.7

9:48AM STMicroelectronics and Hyundai Autron cooperate to develop integrated products for next-generation vehicles (STM) 8.44 -0.09 : Co announced that it had reached agreement with Hyundai Autron, the electronics subsidiary of Hyundai Motors Group of Korea, to collaborate together to develop electronic control systems for automotive applications.

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that NANEO Precision IBS Coatings GmbH has recently ordered a SPECTOR Ion Beam Deposition System.

09:32 am Brocade target raised to $7.50 at Wunderlich: . Wunderlich raises their BRCD tgt to $7.50 from $7 after co delivered a linear 1Q13 well ahead of expectation with continued margin improvement. The macroeconomic and federal spending environments remain uncertain and revenue guidance for the first full quarter for new CEO Lloyd Carney is a bit more cautious than they had previously forecast. As Brocade Ethernet fabric adoption develops they expect to be adjusting our price targets towards higher, more growth-oriented multiples.
10:44 am S&P Technology sector is trading lower by -0.3% today

The tech sector is trading modestly higher today. Semiconductors are outperforming as well with the SOX trades higher by 0.2%. Within the chip index, SNDK (+3.2%) is a notable outperformer. Among other major indices, the SPY, QQQ, and the NASDAQ are all adding 0.2%. Among tech bellwethers, AAPL (+0.6%) is outperforming slightly.

Tech earnings continued rolling in last night. BRCD (-1.8%), DTLK (+6.3%), ELLI (+5.4%), LOGM (-26.8%), QLIK (+19.2%) beat on EPS and revenue. CRAY (+4.7%), NSIT (-3.4%) missed on EPS, but beat on revs. A (-2.9%), ACTV (-9.0%) missed on top and bottom lines. This morning, IPGP (-13.0%) reported EPS and revenue below consensus. In news, STM (-1.0%) will collaborate with Hyundai to develop electronic control systems for automotive applications. ATVI's (+3.3%) Call of Duty: Black Ops II remained as the best-selling game during the month of January. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ATML (+0.8%) was upgraded to Buy at Craig Hallum. QLIK (+18.4%) was upgraded to Positive at Susquehanna. SAAS (+19.3%) was upgraded to Buy at ROTH Capital. Among downgrades, ANGI (+1.0%) was downgraded to Market Perform at Barrington Research. LOGM (-26.8%) was downgraded at Oppenheimer, JPMorgan, and Wunderlich. MWW (-3.9%) was downgraded at Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey.