Greater than expected sales of existing homes in September lifted the markets higher during the midday with the Dow adding 48 points to 11,180. Nasdaq rose 14 points to 2493.
On the upside
Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) reported higher third quarter revenue and earnings that beat analyst expectations and forecast fourth quarter results ahead of estimates.
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) will supply BYD Company with polysilicon in a two year contract valued at approximately $300 million.
Mad Money's Jim Cramer said that Motriticy (Nasdaq: MOTR) is a good stock to buy with much upside potential.
On the downside
Savient Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SVNT) failed to sell itself despite approval from the Food and Drug Administration last month for its gout treatment Krystexxa.
Sinovac Biotech (Nasdaq: SVA) blamed a sharp drop in vaccine demand for slashing its revenue outlook for 2010.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Assured Guaranty's (NYSE: AGO) credit rating from AAA to AA+.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks rose 4 points to 707.
