Apple Eats Bears, Bears Eat Twitter

1) Holding Ahead of Apple

US markets entered a holding pattern ahead of Apple's (AAPL) earnings report, which hit after the close today. (more on this below)

The S&P 500 traded in an extremely tight range today before finishing at 2169.19, up a tiny 0.03% on the day.

The Nasdaq and Russell 2000 indices showed solid outperformance today despite an intraday drop in oil and some biotech names.

This was a bit of a surprise given that overseas markets indicated a risk-off posture in the early going, perhaps best exemplified by the sharp rise in the Japanese yen, which rallies when traders grow more cautious.

Crude oil stayed weak, with WTI crude breaking the $43 handle, though energy stocks actually finished up.

2) Bio-Confusion

Large cap biotechnology stocks took a tumble today after industry giant Gilead (GILD) reported disappointing second-quarter earnings results and poor guidance.

Gilead, which accounts for 8% of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB), fell -8.5% today, while IBB dipped -0.7%

That wasn't exactly a pretty picture, but outside of Gilead, biotechnology was actually pretty decent.

The XBI ETF, which is much more diversified than IBB, was actually well in the green today.

This indicates that many traders believe Gilead is facing company-specific problems that won't impact the sector.

3) Post-Close Earnings

Twitter (TWTR) beat analysts' earnings estimates for the 6th quarter in a row, but it reported disappointing revenues and delivered atrocious third-quarter guidance.

Many traders were surprised at Twitter's dissappointment given the headline-heavy US election cycle and global geopolitical troubles, which should be driving significant news consumption and chatter via Twitter.

Twitter shares were down sharply in extended trading. That's not a surprise given that the stock just rose over 20% on takeover speculation.

Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) was up over 5% after-hours as the company beat Wall Street's expectations for sales, earnings, and iPhone unit sales.

Apple also offered strong forward guidance.

This should mean good things for the Apple calendar spread trade I suggested today.

And it may even be good for the Intel (INTC) calendar spread trade from last week if tech stocks get a lift.