After the closing bell last night, silicon-wafer producer MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) offered a mid-quarter update that's sent the shares reeling into negative territory this morning. The report started auspiciously enough, as CEO Nabeel Gareeb noted that current production rates "could allow us to achieve results in the upper half of our targeted financial range" of $560 million to $620 million in revenue.

His comment seemed to indicate that MEMC might exceed analysts' expected revenue of $596.7 million, as reported by Thomson Financial. But Gareeb then tempered his optimism by adding, "However, there is increased softness in demand from semiconductor applications customers, primarily due to their inventory reduction initiatives. These elements warrant a continued degree of caution in our outlook, given the amount of time left in the quarter."

Additionally, MEMC warned that it expects operating expenses of approximately $43 million for the third quarter, up from its previous projection of $41 million. The increase is largely attributable to one-time, non-cash severance-related expenses.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) opened at $43.65. So far today the stock has hit a low of $41.26 and a high of $43.65. As of 11:00 this morning, MNST is trading at $41.90, down $6.61 (-13.6%).

After hitting a one year high of $59.99 in May, the stock immediately plunged but has seen a moderately successful rebuilding effort over the past ten months – until today. MNST shares are diving once again after the company warned it will miss its earnings forecast for the first quarter. The technical indicators for MNST have been bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a June bear-call credit spread above the $50 range. MNST has not been above $50 since February and has shown resistance above $49.50 in the past month. This trade could be risky if the MNST's earnings (due 4/26) turn out to be positive, but that is unlikely given today's guidance and even if that happens, the stock could have trouble getting above its 50 day moving average, which is right at $50.

Brent Archer is an analyst on the move at Investors Observer. (Free Subscription)

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

TheFly began warning in early December that poor performance at many of Motorola's (NYSE: MOT) supply chain partners -- Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) -- was likely a sign that Motorola might be set up for an earnings miss.

Late last night Motorola warned revenue and earnings would be lower than estimates. Our take: wait for the market to become oversold and more evidence that the Fed is about to lower rates and then jump in. The next growth phase in wireless will be data and Motorola is well-positioned to participate in this space.

Motorola's miss was more due to a slowing economy and a transition from the mature voice business to data. Motorola, as a company, is in pretty good shape to participate in this transition to wireless data.

When investors' fear picks up due to a slowing economy, jump back into this stock.

Twice this year, Yahoo has announced big warnings. And the latest came today – with the stock down 11% to $25.51. The bad news even took Nasdaq down a notch.

Yahoo's CEO, Terry Semel, said that there has been weakness in ad revenues from autos and finance.

While the online ad market has been growing at a rapid clip over the years, it can still be volatile. After all, companies like GM and Ford are undergoing wrenching changes. Might they tone down their ad spend?

Or, what about the slowdown in real estate? Keep in mind that some of the biggest spenders for online advertising comes from mortgage lenders.

While Yahoo! has a large base of advertisers, there is still concentration.

The same is probably true with other companies that depend on online advertising, such as Google.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook an operates InvestorOffering.com.

Yahoo!, Yahoo!, what did you do?

While I busy myself composing a nursery rhyme about Yahoo!'s deadly warning of an hour ago, I'm looking at the red numbers on my monitor. (What rhymes with "Project Panama"? Ooh, I can just rhyme with "unforeseen delay.") Yep, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is not looking good, down $3.57, or 12.3%, and flirting with its 52-week low of $24.91. Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) down 4%, or $16.54, to $398.15 (break on through to the other, other side!). eBay investors are slamming their portfolios, too, selling off eBay to the tune of a drop of 82 cents, or 3%, to $26.02.

Yahoo!'s position as bellwether certainly has a storied history; I remember oh-so-well those heady days in early 1999 when I sat in Jeremy Siegel's finance class at Wharton and watched Yahoo! soar to ever-dizzier-heights, rising and falling $100, $200 a share in a single day. It was crazy, and the company always lead the market. That was long before the advent of a public Google; and it's interesting to see how Google and Yahoo! are interacting now that the two of them share a sector on the NASDAQ.

Yahoo! is to blame, that's for sure. It's the company's failure to grab revenue from the ever-luscious but hard-to-handle local classifieds. It's the terrifically unreliable growth. More than anything, it's the "confusion and delay" caused by the unknown future of Project Panama.

It's all Yahoo!'s fault.