Earlier this month we reported how Apple took over as the most valuable company in the United States. As you know earlier this evening Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple Inc and announced Tim Cook would be replacing him. Tim Cook who has covered as CEO during Jobs medical leave of absence is now the CEO of Apple. The markets on the other hand showed how stockholders feel about the move. With a 6% drop during after hours trade Apple stock feel to $357. Check out more on Apple’s stock after the jump.

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LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Shares of Apple Inc. slumped Wednesday evening after the resignation of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and head of the technology sector heavyweight.

Following a brief trading halt, Apple shares AAPL -5.07% fell more than 6%, and recently traded down 5.1% at $357.

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs wrote in a letter to Apple’s board. “Unfortunately, that day has come.”

Jobs also urged the board to name Tim Cook as chief executive. Cook, who has served as chief operating officer and has taken the helm for Jobs during Jobs’ battle with cancer in recent years, assumes control immediately, Apple said. Read more about the resignation of Apple’s Steve Jobs.

Before the trading halt, Apple shares were off 0.2%. They closed the day session up 0.7%, and have climbed roughly 57% over the past year.

Elsewhere in late trading, stock in Collective Brands PSS +32.39% surged 33% to $13.70 as the holding company for Payless ShoeSource and Stride Rite said its board, along with management, will “conduct a review of strategic and financial alternatives to further enhance shareholder value,” but that no assurance can be made that the review will result in any additional action.

Collective Brands also plans to close about 475 underperforming stores in the next three years, with 300 of those closures by the end of the fiscal year. Costs for lease terminations, severance, and other exit-related costs could range between $25 million to $35 million, the company said.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings at Collective Brands were 16 cents a share. Revenue rose to $882.4 million from $841.3 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected earnings of 12 cents a share on revenue of $866.2 million. The company swung to net loss of $35 million, or 58 cents a share.

Guess shares GES -4.18% lost 4.6% to $31.75. The apparel retailer forecast third-quarter earnings of 71 cents to 74 cents a share, less than the 84 cents a share analysts had anticipated.

Guess, which logged a $19.5 million settlement charge, said second-quarter 2012 net profit fell to $60.7 million, or 65 cents a share, from $66.8 million, or 72 cents, a year ago. Revenue, however, rose 17% to $677.2 million from $577.1 million. Excluding one-time items, Guess earned 84 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for 81 cents a share on $656.4 million in revenue.

Also lower were shares of Applied Materials AMAT -4.05% , down 4.1% at $10.90, with the chip-equipment maker saying it expects fourth-quarter sales to be down in the range of 15% to 30% from the third quarter. It also expects adjusted earnings of 16 cents a share to 24 cents a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of 31 cents a share, on revenue of $2.6 billion.

For its third quarter, Applied Materials said profit was $476 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $123 million, or 9 cents a share, a year ago. Sales were $2.8 billion, up from $2.5 billion. Adjusted income was 35 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of 33 cents a share, on revenue of $2.7 billion.

U.S. stocks rallied ahead of the late-trading session, with a larger-than-anticipated rise in durable-goods orders overriding worries about the global economy. Read about Wednesday’s action in U.S. stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +1.29% jumped 144 points, or 1.3%, to 11,320.71. The S&P 500 Index SPX +1.31% rose 1.3% to 1,177.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP +0.88% gained 0.9%.

MW