Plans by Germany and France to strengthen the European economy lifted the markets during the midday with the Dow adding 2 points to 16,382. Nasdaq soared 49 points to 4,307.

On the upside

Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD) will raise $625 million through a notes offering.

Bank of America lifted its price target on ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI) from $7 to $8.

DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS) subsidiary Ocean Rig (Nasdaq: ORIG) will provide DryShips with a $120 million short term loan.

On the downside

Steven Madden (Nasdaq: SHOO) warned of lower third quarter revenue.

Shares of Chimerix (Nasdaq: CMRX) and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: TKMR) tumbled as 43 people who were being monitored for possible Ebola symptoms were declared free of Ebola.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that funds had been diverted from Petrobras (NYSE: PBR).

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 climbed 13 points to 1900. Bitcoin slipped $3 to $381.