Flat Close As European Economy Shrinks

August 14, 2012 at 17:47 PM EDT

The markets closed flat with the Dow adding 2 points to 13,172 as the European economy shrank in the second quarter. Nasdaq slipped 5 points to 3016.
On the upside
Speculation swirled that Arena Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ARNA) may be acquired.
Bloomberg reported that Knight Capital Group's (NYSE: KCG) $440 million trading loss was triggered by an old software program.
Monster Beverage (Nasdaq: MNST) doubled its stock repurchase plan from $250 million to $500 million.
On the downside
Motley Fool's investing community expect Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PPHM) to underperform the S&P 500. Gol Linhas (NYSE: GOL) widened second quarter losses more than expected as fuel expenses soared.
Towers Watson (NYSE: TW) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but revenue dropped to fall short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues barely edged out advancers by a slim margin on the NYSE and by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 2 points to 796.