Tech Leads, Transport Lags

Stocks ended the day mixed, as the Dow once again flirted with 13,000 but eventually ended the day modestly lower. Tech, meanwhile, continues to lead the way in terms of sectors, while transport continues to lag, hurt by oil's unrelenting march higher. While oil and stocks have been marching higher together, at some point if prices get too high, it will be bad for the market in general.

The Geothermal Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Nevada Geothermal Power (OTCBB: NGLPF.OB - News) with a 10% gain. The Chinese Solar Stocks Index was the day's worst performing tickerspy Index, with China Sunergy (Nasdaq: CSUN - News) down -11%.

Stocks finished the week mixed, with the Dow down -2 points to 12,983. The S&P added 2 points to 1,366, while the Nasdaq climbed 7 points to 2,964. Oil jumped $1.94 to $109.77 a barrel, while gold fell -$9.90 to $1,776.40 an ounce.

In earnings news, Deckers Outdoor (Nasdaq: DECK - News) shares sunk -13.9% after the maker of UGG boots said increased sheepskin costs would lead to flat 2012 earnings. For Q4, the company saw new income jump 40% to $124.7 million, or $3.18 per share, from $89.2 million, or $2.27 per share, last year. Sales climbed 40% to $603.9 million. The results topped the EPS of $3.14 and $563.1 million in revenue analysts were looking for. For Q1, Deckers forecast EPS to be cut in half to about 25 cents, well below the 63-cent consensus.

Energy drink maker Monster Beverage (Nasdaq: MNST - News) posted a Q4 profit of $64.5 million, or 35 cents a share, up 31% from $49.1 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 29% to $410 million. The results fell just short of the analyst consensus calling for EPS of 36 cents on sales of $411.0 million. The stock, nonetheless, rose 2.8%.

Shares of cloud-computing firm Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM - News) surged 9.0% after the company's adjusted profit of 43 cents topped the 40-cent consensus. Revenue jumped 38% to $631.9 million, topping the $624.1 million analyst estimate. On an as-reported basis, the company recorded a loss attributable to common shareholders of -$4.08 million, or -3 cents a share, verus a year-ago profit of $10.9 million, or 8 cents a year. For Q1, the company projected adjusted EPS of between 33-34 cents on revenue of $673-$678 million, versus analyst estimates calling for EPS of 36 cents on revenue of $663.5 million. For the full year, Salesforce guided for adjusted EPS of between $1.58-$1.62 on revenue of $2.92-$2.95 billion, versus analyst estimates calling for EPS of $1.63 on revenue of $2.91 billion.

Rubicon Technology (Nasdaq: RBCN - News) shares plunged -19.2% after the provider of sapphire substrate to the LED industry reported weak earnings and issued poor Q1 guidance. For Q4, net income fell to $861,000, or 4 cents per share, compared with $15.3 million, or 64 cents a share, last year. Revenue dropped -34% to $19.4 million. Analysts had expected a profit of 7 cents a share on revenue of $20.2 million. For Q1, the company forecast a loss of -10 to -14 cents per share on revenue between $8-$12 million. Analysts were looking for EPS of 11 cents on sales of $22.9 million.

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