Single Family Home Construction Rises, Markets Up

Although overall housing starts dropped, construction of single family homes rose to lift the markets modestly higher during the midday with the Dow adding 6 points to 8510. Nasdaq rose 3 points to 1735.

On the upside

Ambulatory and outpatient management services provider CardioNet (Nasdaq: BEAT) announced that Highmark Medicare Services will reimburse for CPT code 93229 at a rate of $1,123.07.

Goldman Sachs upgraded Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) citing improved margins and a better urban market.

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (Nasdaq: KLIC) lifted its revenue outlook for the third quarter saying that sales are better than expected.

On the downside

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) will sell the 27.7 million shares of MSCI (NYSE: MXB) that it owns at $21.50 per share.

Penn Virginia (NYSE: PVA) will offer 3.5 million shares of common stock at $19 per share.

Fourth quarter earnings for Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) plunged as expenses soared. The company also announced the eliminatin of 1,500 to 1,800 positions.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE while advancers were on par with decliners on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 493.