A plunge in retail sales was tempered by rising consumer sentiment. The markets opened mixed with the Dow losing 11 points to 10,161 while Nasdaq rose 11 points to 2230.
On the upside
Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN) may be the target of a take-over.
Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) stopped a clinical trial of its blood clot preventer apixaban because there was clear evidence that the drug prevented strokes in patients eith atrial fibrillation.
Possible mergers among Spanish banks lifted shares of Banco Santander (NYSE: STD).
Fourth quarter earnings for ArcSight (Nasdaq: ARST) surged to beat expectations as revenue climbed prompting an upgrade.
On the downside
An AT&T (NYSE: T) database of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPad owner email addresses was posted on a website.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) did not respond to Banco de Bogota's offer to purchase GE's Central American bank business.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks rose 4 points to 643.
