Stocks had a tough day, as retail guidance failed to impress and chip stocks fell following a Merrill Lynch downgrade of the sector. It will be interesting to see whether the Street continues to lighten equity exposure, or if sleeping on today's data will spur some buying activity.

The Chinese Solar Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by Trina Solar Ltd (NYSE: TSL - News) with a 7% gain.

Stocks fell for a second-straight day, led lower by the Nasdaq, which fell -36 points, or -1.7%. The Dow dropped -94 points to 10,332, while the S&P lost -15 points to close at 1,095. Oil fell -$2.12 to $77.46 a barrel, while gold was up $1.00 to $1,142.20 an ounce.

On the economic front, the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators, which measures consumer expectations, building permits, and other data, edged up 0.3% in October, less than economists had expected. Separately, the Labor Department reported that new jobless claims were a seasonally adjusted 505,000 last week. This was in line with economist estimates and unchanged from the prior week.

In earnings news, shares of Petsmart (Nasdaq: PETM - News) slipped -1.7% despite the company's Q3 results beating analyst estimates. For the period ended November 1st, the pet products retailer earned $38.1 million, or 31 cents per share, topping the 27-cent consensus. Year-ago net income was $35.8 million, or 28 cents per share. Revenue climbed 3.5% to $1.29 billion, while same-store sales inched up 0.3%. Petsmart also raised its full-year guidance to EPS of $1.50-$1.54, up from its prior outlook of $1.43-$1.51. Wall Street was expecting $1.50.

Cost cutting helped Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD - News) to narrow its Q3 loss, beating estimates, but the stock still fell -3.7%. For the quarter ended October 31st, the company lost -$127 million, or -$1.09 a share, compared with a loss of -$146 million, or -$1.16 a share, last year. Adjusted EPS came in at -81 cents, which topped the -$1.09 per share loss that analysts had predicted. Revenue slid -4% to $10.19 billion; Wall Street had expected sales of $9.92 billion. Comparable-store sales dipped -2.3%. Eleven Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q4. Shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM - News) jumped 5.0% on news that the home decor retailer had posted a Q3 profit of $7.3 million, or 7 cents per share. Last year the company reported a loss of -$11 million, or -$10 cents per share. Adjusted EPS was 16 cents, blowing past the 5-cent consensus. Sales sank -3% to $729.3 million, while same-store sales rose 1.7%. For FY09, the company guided for EPS of 43-52 cents on revenue of $2.98-$3.04 billion, up from a prior view of 19-31 cents on revenue of $2.84-$2.94 billion. Analysts were looking for FY09 EPS of 33 cents on revenue of $2.92 billion. For Q4, adjusted EPS is forecast to be between 36-45 cents on sales of $970 million to $1.03 billion. Previously, the company had guided for Q4 EPS of 27-36 cents on sales of $900-$960 million. Analysts were expecting EPS of 38 cents on sales of $949.9 million.

Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP - News) saw its shares spike 6.0% after the company boosted its full-year outlook for shipments and said its Q3 earnings topped the consensus. For the third quarter, the Chinese solar panel maker earned $29.8 million, or 16 cents per American Depository share, down from $42.6 million, or 25 cents per American Depository share, a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting EPS of 8 cents. Revenue dropped -20% to $473.1 million. Looking ahead, Suntech guided for Q4 shipments to rise by 10% from Q3, and raised its FY09 view to 640-660 megawatts from 600. Three Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q4.

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