The markets traded higher during the midday with the Dow gaining 66 points to 19,858. Nasdaq rose 19 points to 5,456.
A group of twenty states led by Connecticut have filed a lawsuit against six generic drug makers for price fixing. The lawsuit alleges that Heritage Pharmaceuticals conspired with Aurobindo Pharma, Citron Pharma, Mayne Pharma, Mylan, and Teva Pharmaceuticals of manipulating the price of two common generic drugs. An investigation by the attorney generals of the plaintiff states discovered that the pharmaceuticals engaged in a sophisticated scheme to keep the prices of the delayed version of the antibiotic doxycycline hyclate and the diabetes treatment glyburide artificially high in order to increase profits.
BlackBerry entered an agreement with TCL Communication Technology Holdings to manufacture and market BlackBerry branded mobile devices. TCL now holds the rights to sell BlackBerry branded devices worldwide except in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The devices will be installed with BlackBerry's security software and server suite.
The Federal Reserve adopted a total loss absorbing capacity rule that requires that the eight largest U.S. banks must maintain a minimum level of long term debt in case of bankruptcy. In the event of a future market collapse, the banks must convert their debt instruments into shareholder equity. The Fed expects that four of the largest banks must issue approximately $50 billion in new debt to comply with the new rule.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 4 to 3 on the NYSE and by 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index gained 9 points to 2,262. Bitcoin added $1 to $773.
