Factory orders rose more than expected but the markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow slipping 22 points to 16,721 as gains in housing prices slowed. Nasdaq lost 6 points to 4,230.
On the upside
NF Energy Saving (Nasdaq: NFEC) will supply Water Diversion Works with $15 million worth of butterfly valve flow control equipment.
Acorn Energy (Nasdaq: ACFN) subsidiary DSIT Solutions completed the first milestone of a contract for an underwater acoustic monitoring system.
Acadia Healthcare (Nasdaq: ACHC) will pay approximately $660 million in cash to acquire Partnerships in Care.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Giga-tronics (Nasdaq: GIGA).
A Seeking Alpha contributor wrote that Whiting USA Trust (NYSE: WHZ) was overvalued.
JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK) announced a private placement of $75 million worth of convertible notes.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 eased a point to 1923. Bitcoin added $4.74 or 0.71% to $665.97.
