The markets opened flat with the Dow adding 2 points to 10,529 as industrial production growth slowed in August. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 2286.
On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration approved Savient Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: SVNT) chronic gout treatment Kyrstexxa.
The New York Post reported that Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) may sell its SUSE Linux unit to a strategic buyer and the rest of the company to a private equity firm.
Ramius increased its unsolicited offer for Cypress Bioscience (Nasdaq: CYPB) to approximately $164 million in cash.
On the downside
Bloomberg reported that Flagstar Bancorp (NYSE: FBC) may sell shares in order to raise $600 million.
AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) priced its offering of more than 15 million common shares at $43.50 per share.
El Paso Pipeline (NYSE: EPB) priced its offering of 11.5 million common units at $31.95 per common unit.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 4 points to 645.
