From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Today's session was mostly uneventful as equities remained near their opening levels throughout the day. The major averages showed some divergence as the S&P 500 shed 0.2% while the Dow added 0.1%.
Stocks within the consumer staples sector were the top performer of the day. Within the group, Energizer (ENR 75.22, +7.30) surged 10.7% after announcing preliminary results of a comprehensive review of the company's cost structure. As a result of the review, Energizer expects annualized cost savings of $175-200 million. Beverage and cigarette stocks were also on the rise within the defensive sector. Coca-Cola (KO 38.62, +0.27) and British American Tobacco (BTI 104.81, +2.70) ended higher by 0.9% and 2.6%, respectively.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average slipped 1.1% as it trailed the broader market. Disappointing guidance from FedEx (FDX 86.55, -2.73) spilled over to other group components as all twenty names within the transportation average traded lower. Airlines showed the biggest weakness as Delta (DAL 8.96, -0.27) and United Continental (UAL 19.27, -0.46) both fell near 2.5%. Shipping stocks were also pressured with Matson (MATX 21.84, -0.43) and Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG 6.76, -0.09) ending lower by 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.
Technology stocks have traded mostly in-line with the broader market. AMD (AMD 3.62, -0.39) slumped 9.7% after Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Seifert announced his resignation. The company announced that Devinder Kumar will serve as interim Chief Financial Officer while a search for a replacement takes place.
Meanwhile, OCZ (OCZ 4.13, -0.33) slid 7.4% after Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Peterson resigned. The board of directors has appointed Amex Mei as interim Chief Executive Officer. The change at the top resulted in several analysts moving their ratings. Craig Hallum upgraded the stock from ‘hold' to ‘buy' while Stifel Nicolaus downgraded OCZ from ‘buy' to ‘hold.'
Elsewhere, F5 Networks (FFIV 108.62, +4.16) jumped 4.0% after Piper Jaffray commented on the company's attractive valuation, and said that the network provider is likely to beat earnings estimates. Other networking names finished lower with Cisco Systems (CSCO 19.04, -0.11) and Juniper Networks (JNPR 18.94, -0.43) slipping 0.6% and 2.2%, respectively.
For-profit education stocks were broadly higher today. Career Education (CECO 4.09, +0.27) and Corinthian Colleges (COCO 2.84, +0.14) added 7.1% and 5.2%, respectively. The advances did not appear to be news-driven as other education listings also made notable advances. Strayer Education (STRA 70.82, +2.85) and Bridgeport Education (BPI 11.64, +0.42) both gained near 4.0%.
The current account deficit for the second quarter totaled $117.4 billion, which was lower than the $126.8 billion deficit that had been broadly anticipated.
The July net long-term TIC flows print indicated a $67 billion inflow of foreign capital into U.S. denominated assets.
Lastly, the NAHB Housing Market Index for September registered a reading of 40, which was ahead of prior month's 37, and better than the reading of 38 that had been expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.
In tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET, while housing starts and building permits will be released at 8:30 ET. Lastly, existing home sales will be announced at 10:00 ET.DJ30 +11.54 NASDAQ -0.87 SP500 -1.87 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1203/1.65 bln/1260 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1335/632.9 mln/1681
3:35 pm : Crude oil extended yesterday's losses as it traded in negative territory for most of its floor session. The energy component briefly broke into the black and touched a session high of $96.63 per barrel and fell back into the red. It settled 1.3% lower at $95.27 per barrel, just above its session low of $95.15 per barrel.
Natural gas popped to a floor session high of $2.92 per MMBtu moments after pit trade opened. However, the move was short lived as prices tumbled lower as the session progressed. It touched a session low of $2.76 per MMBtu as it headed into the close, and settled with a 3.1% loss at $2.78 per MMBtu.
Gold and silver came-off their respective floor session lows of $1758.90 per ounce and $34.19 per ounce set at the pit open and broke into positive territory in morning action. Gold brushed a session high of $1775.90 per ounce but fell back into the red. However, buyers stepped in and pushed prices back above the break-even level so that the yellow metal settled 50 cents higher at $1771.20 per ounce.
Silver popped to a session high of $35.10 per ounce but was unable to keep the momentum. It fell back to the unchanged line but managed to inch higher heading into the close and settled with a 1.0% gain at $34.74 per ounce.DJ30 +3.46 NASDAQ -2.60 SP500 -2.74 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1194/1391.0 mln/1263 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1252/416 mln/1741
4:06PM Microsoft increases quarterly dividend $0.03 (15%) to $0.23 (yield now 3.0%) (MSFT) 31.17 -0.04 : Co raises quarterly dividend 15% ($0.03) to $0.23 (yield at close: 3.0%). The ex-dividend date will be Nov 13, 2012. The co also announced that Raymond Gilmartin, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Merck & Co, has decided that after 11 years of service, he will retire from and not seek re-election to Microsoft's board of directors at the co's 2012 annual meeting of shareholders.
Marvell (MRVL) announced the availability of the SMILE Plug, the first cloud computer designed to transform a traditional classroom setting into an interactive learning environment.
8:17AM Amkor Technology announces proposed offering of senior notes and refinancing of existing debt (AMKR) 4.84 : Co announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $300 mln aggregate principal amount of senior notes ("Notes"). The Notes are expected to be due in 2022 and are to be offered in a private placement in the United States to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes will be unsecured and the offering price, interest rate and other terms will be determined by negotiations between the company and the initial purchasers.
OCZ Tech (OCZ $4.36 -0.11) announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Alex Mei, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer as Interim CEO, effective immediately. Mr. Mei's appointment follows the Board's acceptance of Ryan Petersen's resignation as President, CEO and a director of the Company. Mr. Mei will also maintain his current responsibilities as EVP and Chief Marketing Officer until a permanent CEO has been selected... In regards to his decision to resign, Mr. Petersen said, "I am very pleased to have transitioned the Company from a niche developer, manufacturer, and seller of high-performance DRAM memory modules to a global leader in solid-state storage solutions."
Advanced Micro (AMD $3.68 -0.33) announced that Devinder Kumar, senior vice president and corporate controller, will serve as interim CFO while a search commences for Seifert's replacement. Kumar has served as the Company's corporate controller since 2001. Seifert's departure is not based on any disagreement over the company's accounting principles or practices, or financial statement disclosures.
Cirrus Logic (CRUS $43.68 +0.00) target was raised to $53 from $47 at Needham. The firm notes in light of the iPhone 5 launch and strong pre-order rates coupled with their belief that co gained dollar content at the expense of Audience, they increase their earnings forecast. The increases are driven primarily by their raised dollar content assumptions of $0.35 per iPhone.
10:46 am S&P Information Technology Index lower today along the overall market
The tech sector is trading slightly lower today, along with losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness, however, with the SOX trading 0.5% lower. Within the chip index, AMD (-7.9%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ is flat and the NASDAQ is trading 0.1% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, T (-0.7%) is showing notable weakness, while GOOG (+0.6%) is showing strength.
In tech earnings, JDAS (+0.3%) announced it will reaffirm its FY12 outlook at today financial analyst meeting. In news, OCZ (-6.5%) announced the resignation of its CEO and appointed Alex Mei as interim CEO and AMD (-7.7%) announced the resignation of its CFO. This morning, STEC (+0.1%) announced it CEO is also stepping down. Elsewhere, TWC (+0.3%) will sell its 7.8% stake in CLWR (-3.9%) according to the WSJ. Also, NUAN (-0.4%) announced it will acquire DITC (+75.8%) for $1.45/share. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, JIVE (+5.0%) was upgraded to Outperform at Wells Fargo and BRCM (+1.4%) was upgraded to Outperform at RBC. Also of note, FFIV (+6.4%) is higher today on positive comments from Piper. Among downgrades, INTC (-0.6%), TXN (-1.5%), ADI (-1.1%) & NVDA (-0.1%) were downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC. Similarly, Miller Tabak downgraded the semi sector to Neutral. Also, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded OCZ (-6.5%) to Hold. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.
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