The markets advanced during the midday with the Dow soaring 134 points to 11,612 on strong September retail sales. Nasdaq surged 39 points to 2659.
On the upside
StockCall.com issued a research report on Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC).
Activist investor Carl Icahn paid approximately $118.1 million for 7.1 million shares of Navistar International (NYSE: NAV) to take a 9.8% stake in the vehicle manufacturer.
OXiGENE (Nasdaq: OXGN) terminated its financing agreement with Kingsbridge Capital.
On the downside
Chipworks reported that Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 4S uses a Sony (NYSE: SNE) camera sensor sending shares of rival OnmiVision Technologies (Nasdaq: OVTI) tumbling.
The Defense Department said that AVI BioPharma’s (Nasdaq: AVII) influenza treatment failed to qualify for a contract.
Microchip Technology (Nasdaq: MCHP) cut its second quarter earnings outlook.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 10 points to 709.