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Dow Snaps Winning Streak; JDS, AMD Soar

Published: Thursday, 12 Nov 2009 | 5:34 PM ET

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By: Cindy Perman
CNBC.com Staff Writer

Stocks tumbled Thursday as a weak holiday outlook from Wal-Mart and drop in energy prices offset fewer jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 93.79, or 0.9 percent, to close at 10,197.47, snapping a six-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 dropped more than 1 percent to 1,087.24 — the 1,100 mark remains a sticking point for the index. The Nasdaq was the best performer of the three, down just 0.8 percent, amid huge gains in some techs, including JDS Uniphase and AMD.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

Crude oil fell to $76.94 a barrel amid worries about demand and as the dollar firmed against major currencies.

Jobless claims fell for the second straight week, suggesting continued gradual improvement in the economy.

Wal-Mart [WMT Loading... () ] beat earnings expectations but delivered a light holiday forecast.

FOR INVESTORS

AIG shares [AIG Loading... () ] fell 1.3 percent amid speculation about its top executives. The stock has quietly risen 50 percent in the past five months.

Techs rallied after an earnings beat from Applied Materials and big deal news.

Applied Materials [AMAT Loading... () ] beat on both the top and bottom lines, announced plans to cut jobs globally and said it expects sales to jump 30 percent next year. Its shares rallied after-hours yesterday but fell 3.3 percent today.

Shares of AMD [AMD Loading... () ] rocketed 22 percent after finally settling its patent war with Intel [INTC Loading... () ], which agreed to pay AMD $1.25 billion.

Giving the sector a jolt, Hewlett-Packard [HPQ Loading... () ] agreed to acquire 3Com [COMS Loading... () ] for $2.7 billion in cash. 3Com shares rallied 31 percent to $7.46.

That shot started off a swirl of speculation about what rivals Cisco [CSCO Loading... () ] and IBM [IBM Loading... () ] might do. Both stocks declined today.

The big question is: What might be next takeover target in this tech horse race? JDS Uniphase [JDSU Loading... () ] and Broadcom [BRCM Loading... () ] are some of the names being tossed around.

JDS Uniphase rallied 7 percent. The company, if you recall, was one of the highflyers of the dot-com boom and crashed spectacularly. Now, it's at a sweet spot, says Sanford Bernstein’s Jeff Evenson, as it makes testing equipment that companies need for setting up broadband and wireless networks. They also make lasers and one of their biggest drivers last quarter was 3D glasses, capitalizing on the IMAX trend.

Brocade [BRCD Loading... () ] was actually downgraded by several analysts amid worries that it won't able to gain market share following the deal. Its shares fell 13 percent.

In addition to Wal-Mart, jitters over retail sales heading into the holidays also were reflected in earnings from Kohl's [KSS Loading... () ], which reflected Wal-Mart's in that the retailer beat third-quarter expectations but looks set to fall short in the year's final reporting period.

Winterizing Your Portfolio - A CNBC Special Report

Dow component Walt Disney [DIS Loading... () ] reports after the closing bell, as does retailer Nordstrom [DIS Loading... () ] .

Homebuilders skidded after the prior session's rally. Mortgage rates declined last week, with the 30-year fixed down to 4.91 percent, and home foreclosures slowing for a third consecutive month, but RealtyTrac, which puts out the foreclosure report, said rising unemployment could make that lull temporary.