The market scorched higher today. Buyers pushed the market

The market activity on Tuesday was uneventful, especially after the moon-shot on Monday morning. Sellers showed up early in the morning and volume was

The market finished the day a percent higher to close at 1115

The market finished the week ending up one percent in a strong

I've discussed the potential for the coming 2Q earnings season to disappoint as a primary reason for the recent weakness we've seen in the stock market. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that analysts have indeed been ratcheting down their earnings estimates for the Second Quarter. Six of the top 10 sectors of the S&P 500 have had earnings estimates lowered.

Basic materials companies have been hardest hit, with current estimates now 13 percentage points below estimates from the beginning of the month. Financial companies have seen the second biggest fall in estimates, down more than 5 percentage points.

Overall, the companies of the S&P 500 are expected to report $19.65 in per share earnings. S&P 500 earnings are expected to peak in 4Q at $22 a share. Interestingly, 4Q estimates have not been revised lower.

JA Solar Holdings (Nasdaq:JASO), Netlist Inc (Nasdaq:NLST), Saks Inc (Nasdaq:) and AirTran Holdings Inc (Nasdaq:AAI), are among the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: STEC Inc (Nasdaq:STEC), China NorthEast Pete Holdings (Nasdaq:NEP), SIGA Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:), MGIC Inventories Corp. (Nasdaq:MTG) and Trinquint Semiconductor Inc (Nasdaq:TQNT).

Morgan Stanley (Nasdaq:MS), NetList Inc. (Nasdaq:NLST), BPW Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:BPW) and Talbots Inc. (Nasdaq:TLB) are among the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Immunogen Inc. (Nasdaq:IMGN) and RF Microdevices Inc. (Nasdaq:RFMD), American Axle Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:AXL) Origin Agritech Ltd. (Nasdaq:SEED) and Stec Inc. (Nasdaq:STEC).

Origin Agritech Ltd. (Nasdaq:SEED), Netlist Inc. (Nasdaq:NLST) and Agfeed Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:FEED) are among the most actively traded companies in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Peets Coffee & Tea Inc. (Nasdaq:PEET), NetList Inc. (Nasdaq:NLST) and Noah Educational Holdings LTD. (Nasdaq:NED) are among the biggest percentage losers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: CDeer Consumer Products (Nasdaq:DEER), Chinal Holdings Acquisitions Corp. (Nasdaq:HOL), Central Garden & Pet Co. (Nasdaq:CENT), China Green Agriculture Inc. (Nasdaq:CGA), Breeze Eastern Corp. (Nasdaq:BZC) and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:BCRX).

The Russell 2000 and the other major U.S. indices posted gains ahead of the Independence Day holiday following news of a smaller-than-expected drop in May factory orders. The Russell 2000 moved up 3.14 points, or 0.37%, to finish at 848.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 41.87 points, or 0.31%, to 13,577.30.

Stocks were trending up all day, no doubt helped by news that May U.S. factory orders decreased a less than expected 0.5%, according to the Commerce Department.

Economists were expecting factory orders to drop 1.2% drop in May after rising 0.5% in April.

Shares of Netlist, Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) plummeted 27.78%, or $1.00 to $2.60 in after-hours trading Monday after the supplier of high-performance memory subsystems announced it now expects a loss for the second quarter.

For the three months ended June 30, 2007, the Irvine, Calif. company said it expects a fully diluted net loss of approximately $0.35 to $0.37 per share. This includes estimated stock-based compensation expense of $0.3 million, according to the company. Netlist went public in November of 2006.

Netlist said revenue and gross margins for the quarter were adversely impacted by the decline in the DRAM market and a related decline in demand from OEM customers.

“Our operating results for the second quarter were severely impacted by two principal factors,” Netlist CEO Chuck Hong said. “First, the unexpected continued decline in the DRAM market during the second quarter affected the sales, pricing and gross margin on our lower-ASP, high-volume products. Secondly, we experienced delays in qualifying new products on our customers' high-end product platforms, as well as lower shipments on certain qualified products.”

During the second quarter the company also recorded special charges of approximately $5 million to reflect the impact of declining DRAM prices on inventory values.

April 17 (SmallCapInvestor.com) – Stocks are posting small gains this morning following news of stronger-than-expected home construction in March and an easing of inflation.  Among small caps, weak quarterly sales are hurting shares of Universal Forest Products, Inc. (Nasdaq: UFPI), while InsWeb Corporation (Nasdaq: INSW) is surging after reporting its first ever profit.

At 10:50 AM the Russell 2000 was down 0.56 points, or 0.07 percent, to 830.88.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 57.13 points, or 0.45 percent, to 12,777.59.

Netlist Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) issued lower-than-expected guidance for its first and second quarters.

The Irvine, Calif.-based memory subsystems manufacturer said it now expects to report earnings per share of $0.02 to $0.03 per share on revenue of $37 million to $38 million. The firm had previously issued guidance of $0.07 to $0.08 per share on revenue of $40 million to $42 million.

Shares of Netlist Inc. (Nasdaq: NLST) fell $0.86, or 14.4%, to $5.11 in after-hours trading Monday after the memory subsystems manufacturer issued a lower-than-expected revised first-quarter guidance. Irvine, Calif.-based Netlist said it now expects to report earnings per share of $0.02 to $0.03 per share on revenue of $37 million to $38 million. The firm had previously issued guidance of $0.07 to $0.08 per share on revenue of $40 million to $42 million. Three analysts polled by Thomson First Call were expecting earnings per share of $0.08 on revenue of $41.2 million for the quarter ended March 31. Netlist CEO Chuck Hong cited operating expenses and decreased customer demand for the revised guidance.