The markets opened flat with the Dow adding 5 points to 11,193 while Nasdaq slipped 4 points to 2528 ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.
On the upside
While third quarter earnings dropped for STEC (Nasdaq: STEC), the results beat analyst expectations and the company forecast current quarter results ahead of estimates prompting an upgrade.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Pride International (NYSE: PDE) engaged in acquisition discussions with Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL) and Ensco (NYSE: ESV).
Third quarter earnings for OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) surged more than fourfold to surpass analyst expectations by a wide margin as revenue soared.
On the downside
Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM) priced its offering of 125 million common shares at $3.85 per share.
Sonus (Nasdaq: SONS) widened third quarter losses more than expected as revenue dropped and forecast full year revenue below expectations.
EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) swung to a third quarter loss and cut its 2010 production outlook.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fraction to 713.