Markets tumble on disappointing earnings

Disappointing earnings weighed the markets down during the midday with the Dow plunging 101 points to 16,980. Nasdaq rose 10 points to 4,807.

On the upside

Bloomberg reported that Fairchild Semiconductor International (Nasdaq: FCS) retained the services of Goldman Sachs to sell the company.

Zafgen (Nasdaq: ZFGN) disclosed that a patient in an ongoing Phase 3 study of its Prader-Willi Syndrome treatment beloranib died. The stock price rose after two days of uncertainty when the company cancelled investor meetings.

Rising gold prices lifted shares of Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC) .

On the downside

The New York Times reported that one of BofI Holding's (Nasdaq: BOFI) former auditors sued the company for violating federal whistle-blower laws.

Blucora (Nasdaq: BCOR) will buy HD Vest Financial Services for approximately $580 million.

Austin Ventures will distribute its holdings in Bazaarvoice (Nasdaq: BV).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 2,000. Bitcoin added $5 to $253.