From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : The broad market booked its third straight loss on Thursday, but for the second straight session it staged a late rally that slashed losses.
Prior to the open traders shrugged off the final reading on fourth quarter GDP. Unchanged from the previous report, it showed that the economy expanded at a rate of 3.0%, just as had been widely anticipated. The latest initial jobless claims count also failed to excite; claims climbed 9,000 week-over-week to 359,000, which is greater than the tally of 350,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.
Financials had helped the stock market halve its loss in the prior session, but today the sector led it lower. Financials were off by about 2% at their session low, dragging down the broader market to a loss of nearly 1%. Although the Financial sector was eventually able to trim its loss, it failed to fully participate in the broad market's afternoon rally. As a result it still suffered a 1.1% loss.
Continuing with the role reversal, Energy stocks weighed heavily on trade yesterday and were down in excess of 1% again today before a barrage of late-afternoon buying boosted the sector to back to the flat line.
The move came even though oil prices came under further pressure today. In fact, the energy component set a new monthly low narrowly above $102 per barrel before it settled at $102.80 per barrel with a 2.5% loss. Worse still, natural gas prices plummeted to new multi-year lows in the wake of a bearish weekly inventory report before they settled pit trade with a 5.7% loss at $2.15 per MMBtu. In connection with that move the US Natural Gas Fund (UNG 16.21, -0.90) notched new lifetime lows.
Although neither the S&P 500 nor the Nasdaq could extend their late climb into positive territory, the Dow managed to muster a narrow gain with help from Coca-Cola (KO 73.81, +1.15), Intel (INTC 28.16, +0.36), and Caterpillar (CAT 106.02, +1.76), each of which advanced in excess of 1%.
Consumer Discretionary play Best Buy (BBY 24.77, -1.85) still suffered a deep loss and set a 10-day low as sellers piled on in response to the company's latest quarterly report. The results featured an upside earnings surprise, but that was overshadowed by a relatively light revenue figure. An in-line outlook failed to win favor for the stock.
In response to the stock market's morning descent the Volatility Index, euphemistically labeled Fear Gauge, spiked more than 10% to clear 17, but it retreated as the tone of trade improved. By day's end it was relatively flat.
Treasuries managed to maintain gains in the face of the stock market's upswing. That took the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note to a new 10-day low, comfortably below 2.20%.
The greenback had another relatively quiet session in that the Dollar Index traded near the neutral line for the better part of the day and into the close. However, the sterling pound staged a strong gain that helped it recoup its prior session loss by trading up 0.4% to $1.59 by the closing bell. The yen was up more than 1% against the greenback, but drifted lower into the afternoon so that it the yen per dollar ratio was down 0.6% to 82.42 at session end.
Advancing Sectors: Utilities +0.4%, Health Care +0.2%, Industrials +0.1%, Materials +0.1%
Unchanged: Energy, Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary
Declining Sectors: Tech -0.2%, Telecom -0.3%, Financials -1.1%DJ30 +19.61 NASDAQ -9.60 NQ100 -0.3% R2K -0.3% SP400 -0.1% SP500 -2.26 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1064/1.74 bln/1430 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1161/817 mln/1815
5:38PM Research In Motion is now at 13.52 after hours; stock fell as low as $12.40 when trading resumed (RIMM) 13.73 +0.06 :
5:18PM Research In Motion rise above the $13 mark after hours; now at $13.01 (RIMM) 13.73 +0.06 :
5:11PM Research In Motion resumes trading 10% lower at $12.40; now at $12.56 (RIMM) 13.73 +0.06 :
4:47PM Research In Motion misses by $0.01, misses on revs; stock halted (RIMM) 13.73 +0.06 : Reports Q4 (Feb) earnings of $0.80 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.81; revenues fell 24.6% year/year to $4.19 bln vs the $4.51 bln consensus. RIMM reports Q4 shipments of 11.1 mln; guidance was 11-12 mln.
4:03PM Aehr Test Systems receives follow-on production order from automotive IDM for Its ABTS advanced burn-in and test system (AEHR) 0.72 +0.04 : Co announced it has received an additional follow-on production order for its ABTS Advanced Burn-in and Test System from a Japanese semiconductor integrated device manufacturer.
Cree (CREE) is expanding the CR Troffer family to address more applications and to eliminate the use of antiquated fluorescent technology in new or retrofit commercial and industrial settings. Cree also announced new pricing.
RES Software announced a full-service distributor agreement with Ingram Micro (IM). The agreement grants Ingram Micro permission to officially license and distribute RES Software to solution providers across North America.
O2Micro International (OIIM) was issued 25 claims under United States patent for its Cell Balancing System.
8:19AM Best Buy beats by $0.31, misses on revs; guides FY13 EPS in-line, revs below consensus; co will close 50 big box stores this year and open 100 Best Buy Mobile small format stores; announces cost reductions (BBY) 26.62 : Reports Q4 (Feb) earnings of $2.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.31 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $2.16; revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $16.63 bln vs the $17.21 bln consensus; comps -2.4%. The Domestic segment areas of comparable store sales growth included tablets and mobile phones within the Computing & Mobile Phones revenue category and eReaders within the Consumer Electronics revenue category. These increases were more than offset by comparable store sales declines in other areas, including gaming within the Entertainment revenue category, notebooks within the Computing and Mobile Phones category and digital imaging and televisions within the Consumer Electronics revenue category.
Co issues guidance for FY13, sees EPS of $3.50-3.80, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $3.70 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY13 revs of $50-51 bln vs. $51.84 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; comps -2-4%. Domestic segment online sales are expected to grow 15 percent in fiscal 2013 and the co continues to expect to reach $4 billion by fiscal 2016. Specific actions intended to lower costs are expected to include: The closure of 50 U.S. Best Buy big box stores in fiscal 2013. Cost savings including a reduction of ~400 positions in corporate and support areas. Domestic segment online revenue growth of 21 percent.
Strategic initiatives: Planning $800 million in cost reductions by fiscal 2015; including ~$250 million in fiscal 2013. Best Buy's retail store strategy is to increase points of presence, while decreasing overall square footage, for increased flexibility in a multi-channel environment. The co intends to remodel key stores with a new Connected Store format in fiscal 2013, and to continue to build out the successful Best Buy Mobile small format stores throughout the U.S. Best Buy expects to open another 100 U.S. Best Buy Mobile small format stores in fiscal 2013 and continues to expect to have a total of 600 to 800 such stores by fiscal 2016 (from 305 today). Best Buy will be deploying "at-scale" market tests of its new Connected Store format in the Twin Cities and San Antonio metro areas. Co will close 50 big box stores in FY13.
8:05AM Best Buy: BBY earnings mover as shares see premarket volatility, now trading up nearly 0.75 with the Mar. intraday highs @ 27.95 in play above current levels; BBY printing 27.55 (BBY) 26.62 :
NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) and HID Global, both trusted leaders in solutions for the delivery of secure identity, today announced their collaboration to introduce a global, generic Mobile Access solution for NFC-enabled mobile phones.
Dialog Semiconductor announced it is working closely with TSMC (TSM) to develop its next generation of bipolar-CMOS-DMOS technology specifically tailored to high-performance power management ICs for portable devices.
Qualcomm (QCOM) announced plans to establish an Integrated Circuit Design and Engineering R&D center in Singapore.
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