Hurricane threats lifted oil prices while weighing down the markets during the midday with the Dow slipping 5 points to 11,382. Nasdaq lost 5 points to 2361.
On the upside
Greenfield Online (Nasdaq: SRVY) will terminate its agreement to be acquired by private investment firm Quadrangle Group after receiving a better offer from an undisclosed party.
Luxury handbag company Coach (NYSE: COH) announced plans to repurchase $1 billion in common shares prompting Goldman Sachs analyst Adrienne Shapira to lift her earnings estimates for 2009 through 2011.
Second quarter earnings tumbled for Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) due to the soft economy but the results topped analyst expectations.
On the downside
A judged recommended that the U. S. International Trade Commission ban imports of SiRF Technology Holdings (Nasdaq: SIRF) chips as well as products made with SiRF chips that infringe on Broadcom's (Nasdaq: BRCM) patents.
Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO) narrowed fourth quarter losses as revenue and enrollment rose but revenue fell short of expectations.
Soft drink distributor Cott (NYSE: COT) blamed declining sales and rising expenses for lowering its 2008 profit guidance and retracting its 2009 outlook.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 723.
