The markets traded mixed during the midday despite plans by the Treasury Department to begin taking equity stakes in the nation's banks as investor anxiety about the health of the global markets lingered. The Dow fell 36 points to 9222 while Nasdaq gained 7 points to 1747.
On the upside
Apollo Management offered $540 million to Hexion Specialty Chemicals to help finance Hexion's $6.5 billion acquisition of Huntsman Corp. (NYSE: HUN).The USDA reported that chicken eggs in incubators were at their lowest level in five years. The news lifted shares of chicken producers Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC) and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN).
NorthStar Realty Finance (NYSE: NRF) announced a quarterly dividend of 36 cents per share payable on November 14 to shareholders of record November 4. The company will also repurchase up to 10 million shares of common stock.
On the downside
Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OMRI) suspended a Phase II clinical trial in mild to moderate bleeding for its Fibrin Pad to investigate a case of post operative bleeding.XL Capital's (NYSE: XL) credit default swaps began trading on an upfront basis while the cost surged to approximately 12.5% of the sum to be insured.
Banc of America Securities downgraded Horace Mann Educators (NYSE: HMN).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 12 points to 534.
