advanced microdevices, jabil circuit or jds unit phase.f, advanced microdevices which shot up about 50%. >> closing bell i'm courtney reagan, the nasdaq up just slightly, but up 18% for the quarter. one of the biggest winners on the nasdaq composite is rim, despite the fact that the company afforded the first quarter loss since 2005, but it's the ceo comments about possibly putting up rim for sale if that happens to be a good strategic opportunity. take a look at shares of micron, these shares are lower. the biggest shares in the s&p 500. after it settles a $2 million lawsuit with oracle. >> there's about 19 minutes left before the closing bell. last day of the quarter, time now for a quick market check on the nasdaq. the nasdaq jumping on the break even line. coincidental coincidentally, it has risen and fallen by as many as 16 points today. it has gone up by 19%, that is the best quarter since 2009. check out the dboe volatility index, it has lost about a third of its value since the opening bell. >> it's been quite a ride for the major

take a look at advance microdevices, acquiring c mike crow.takeover will heighten the processor market. maria, back over to you. >> seema, thank you. the republican presidential candidates are hitting the road ahead of the big sup tuesday primary in ten states. john harwood sat down exclusively with one of the front runners, rick santorum. he joins us from atlanta with the details. over to you, john. >> it was fascinating, rick santorum is known as a critic of american culture and morality. he declined to extend that criticism to wall street, saying capitalism encourages morality. he rejected calls from republican insiders and some on wall street that he get out of the race to avoid further damage to the republican ticket this fall, saying we're not going to make it stop, because i'm going to win. and he gently poked at his wealthy rival, mitt romney's, inability, or difficulty in connecting with average people. >> i think there are a lot of successful people in this country who connect amazingly well with the american people. one of the reaso

our midday movers for today, let's start with advanced microdevices. moving higher on an upgrade from jaffray. take a look at csx, up better than 7% moving higher on bullish comments from their cfo conference. and then a look at guess. getting hit hard. q-4 earnings fell. and guess is pointing to weak results in europe. tyler. >> seema, thank you very much. let's get to the market action. there is action today aplenty. oil, apple and the s&p 500 all on the move. we've got full team coverage and we're going to kick it off as we usually do with bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. a big number crossed for the s&p thanks in part to apple, of course. >> it did. i just want to mention before i get to the s&p over 1400, british prime minister david cameron now in the building. he's meeting for what is being described as a private meeting. but mr. prime minister come on the floor. the guys want to shake your hands, talk to you and we want to talk to you too about oil and global politics. s&p 500, that's what tyler's talking about. crossing 1400 here. pu

if you look at some of the sector heavyweights, intel, advanced microdevices all trading lower in today'sguys, back to you. >> thank you very much, seem ma. 18 minutes to trade a quick market stat check on the nasdaq. you will be aware 33,000 was the level that we managed to breach last week. a quick bounce coming through 3:00 eastern, not enough to bring us out of negative territory. earlier, during the course of the session, we lost 36 points. >>> meanwhile the cboe's volatility index holding onto steady gains all day. the vix at 1820 as you can see. interesting comment about the degree which you might see volume in the vix as a direct result of a lack of volume down here at the nyse. the last time incident italy that vix settled above 20 was february 15th, maria. >> thank you. marketing pulling back as we approach the final stretch on wall street. some staying is time to take some money off the table. where do you want to be placing your beats this juncture? our next guest is keeping a close eye on asia. ken marsher in, head of quantitative easeding in ubs what is the trade and why are

also advanced microdevices down 5%.tly, it's been a mixed session for recently listed tech stocks. zynga trading lower, nose diving after jpmorgan analyst wrote that it will take some more time for zynga.com to gain traction and really materialize on the flip side though we have pandora moving higher on an upgrade. that's a stock to watch. key outperformer here at the nasdaq. mandy. >> seema, thank you for that. thousands of protesters filling the streets of moscow and st. petersburg to challenge vladimir putin's re-election victory. securing a third term. steve liesman is live in moscow. steve, interesting times we're living in there. >> reporter: yes, definitely, mandy. after the results came in pretty much you know with the strong showing expected from putin, today was a day of political activity in the streets in moscow. also in st. petersburg. two rallies separated by less than a kilometer. the opposition screaming russia without putin. we understand just a few minutes ago we had reports -- [ technical difficulties

right now about 10 points shy in terms of technology we have advanced microdevices being the outperformer in trade. the company announcing the acquisition of c micro for around $340 million. this move is seen as a way to heighten the competition with intel. so that's a stock to watch. one stock that's not participating in the gains that we've seen at the nasdaq, research in motion. a big decliner. analysts at jefferies making pretty bearish call saying rimm will most likely not meet q-4 estimates. the company continues to compete of course with the popularity of the apple ipad and iphone. actually, on that note let's take a look at apple. hit a fresh new all-time high this morning at $548. right now at $543. tyler, back to you. >> seema, thank you very much. let's switch on the "power lunch" power surge and drill down on some of the stories that are driving this day. big automakers revving up sales, chrysler best february since before the financial crisis. and it's not alone. our philip lebeau behind the wheel for us in chicago. phil. >> tyler, these are much better than expected numbers.