The markets traded mixed during the midday with the Dow climbing 58 points to 13,132 as investors questioned the drop in the nation's unemployment rate to a four year low of 7.7%. Nasdaq fell 11 points to 2977.
On the upside
Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) chief executive Andrew Mason admitted the possibility that the board might have discussed firing him due to the sharp 80% plunge in share price this year.
A Seeking Alpha contributor suggested that Avon (NYSE: AVP) may be interested in buying skin care products company Obagi Medical Products (Nasdaq: OMPI).
SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD) continued climbing after shareholder TPG-Axon Capital proposed changes to the company's board through a website.
On the downside
Webster Financial (NYSE: WBS) announced a secondary offering of 10 million shares of company stock at the discounted price of $20.10 per share.
The U. S. Attorney and the Securities and Exchange Commission launched investigations into the sale of $10 million worth of Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) stock by company chief executive Steven Fishman a month before the closeout retailer reported an unexpected quarterly loss.
Ritchie Bros. (NYSE: RBA) sold more than $73 million worth of industrial equipment through two auctions in Canada this week but the stock price dropped.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks held steady at 821.
Investors Question Drop In Unemployment Rate
December 07, 2012 at 14:37 PM EST
