Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Woody_Nickels who wrote (39988)	8/26/2008 10:52:15 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95616

From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The major indices ended Tuesday mixed in a choppy session that marked the lowest volume of the year. Corporate news was light, but there was plenty of economic data and movement in commodities. The S&P 500 posted a 0.4% gain with seven of the ten economic sectors in the green as traders digested a spike in crude prices and several better-than-expected economic releases. Only 856 million shares exchanged hands on the NYSE, marking the lowest amount of volume in 2008. Crude prices traded in a volatile manner, falling 2.4% in early trade, and then spiking to a gain of 2.4% on threats of a hurricane disrupting production in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude prices eventually settled with a gain of 1.0% at $116.26 per barrel, while natural gas prices rallied 5.7%. The energy sector (+1.8%) provided leadership, benefiting from the gains in crude and natural gas prices. Anadarko Petroleum (APC 61.54, +3.70) gave the sector an added boost after the company authorized a share repurchase program of up to $5 billion. Financials stocks fell to a 1% loss in afternoon trading on news that the FDIC increased the number of problem institutions to 117 in the second quarter from 90, with assets at problem institutions increasing to $78 billion from $26 billion. This headline is not as bad as it seems, considering $32 billion of the asset increase was due to IndyMac (which already failed) and 98% of institutions remain well capitalized. As a result, financials recovered from the knee-jerk reaction to the headlines to finish the day with a 0.7% gain. The tech sector was the worst-performing area with a 0.4% loss. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite posted a loss of 0.2% as a result. On the economic front, July new home sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 515,000 from a downwardly revised June reading of 503,000, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Economists expected 525,000 sales. New home sales are down 35% from the prior year, but have held somewhat steady near 500,000 in recent months. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20 city composite posted a 15.9% year-over-year drop in home prices in June. This marks the largest decline on record, but was slightly better than the expected 16.2% decrease. In addition, the acceleration of the decline is moderating, indicating that a bottoming in the housing industry is taking place. A separate report from OFHEO showed flat home prices in June compared to May, which topped expectations. Homebuilding stocks fell 2.9%. Consumer confidence rose 9.6% month-over-month in August to 56.9, topping the median economist estimate of 53.0. The survey shows increased plans to buy a car, a home and major appliances within the next six months. Briefing.com does not put much weight into confidence surveys compared to hard data. Nonetheless, the reading counters conventional wisdom that the consumer is going into retrenchment mode. Separately, the FOMC released the minutes from its Aug. 5 meeting. The minutes did not tell the market anything it did not already know, and as a result had a limited trading impact. DJ30 +26.62 NASDAQ -3.62 NQ100 -0.2% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +4.67 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1520/1.46 bln/1296 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1961/856 mln/1145 9:02AM Magma Design to develop yield enhancement software for Solar Cell Fabs (LAVA) 5.39 : The co announces development of a new yield enhancement software system customized for solar fabs to improve conversion efficiency, increase yield and reduce the manufacturing costs of solar cells. Magma is collaborating with Pegasus Semiconductor-Solar to refine product specifications and test the new product, based on Magma's YieldManager software system. 12:00AM ITC judge recommends halt to importation of all products containing SiRF GPS chips that infringe Broadcom patents (BRCM) 26.17 : Co announces that an Administrative Law Judge has recommended that the U.S. International Trade Commission bar from importation into the U.S. infringing chips of SiRF Technology Holdings (SIRF), and all downstream products that incorporate those chips. The affected products include personal navigation devices, GPS modules and receivers, personal digital assistants, and cellular telephones. The ALJ also recommended that the ITC enter a Cease and Desist Order prohibiting SiRF from engaging in certain activities related to the infringing chips.

To: Woody_Nickels who wrote (39988)	8/27/2008 8:30:40 AM
From: SI User	Respond to of 95616

Qimonda Retreats; Will Micron Buy Them? August 25, 2008, 2:32 pm Posted by Eric Savitz Qimonda (QI) shares are down hard today, giving back all of the memory chip maker’s advance on Friday, which had been spurred by a Wall Street Journal report that said Micron (MU) might make an offer for its rival in the DRAM business. Qimonda, which rose 21 cents, or 10% on Friday, today is down 21 cents, or 9.2%, to $2.08. Two related items worth mentioning here. One, Bloomberg is reporting that NXP is denying it has been holding merger talks with Infineon (IFX), which owns a majority stake in Qimonda. And the other is that Qimonda is not the only memory chip stocks taking a bath today: Spansion (SPSN), which makes NOR flash memory chips, is off 30 cents, or 10.3%, to $2.61, erasing a 9% rally over the last three trading days. Permalink \| Trackback URL: blogs.barrons.com