A sharp drop in first time applications for unemployment benefits lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 61 points to 13,572. Nasdaq rose 16 points to 3134. On the upside
E. Land will pay a premium of approximately $170 million to acquire athletic footwear maker K-Swiss (Nasdaq: KSWS). CBS (NYSE: CBS) will convert its Outdoor Americas advertising division into a real estate investment trust. NewLead Holdings (Nasdaq: NEWL) will acquire properties containing estimated coal reserves of 161.7 million tons. On the downside Power-One (Nasdaq: PWER) warned of losses for the fourth quarter due to weak demand.Aveo Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AVEO) priced its public offering of more than 6.6 million common shares at the discounted price of $7.50 per share. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported sharply lower fourth quarter earnings due to mortgage related charges. In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 3 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index rose 6 points 1479.