Upbeat job creation numbers lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow rising 41 points to 12,949. Nasdaq gained 16 points to 2986.

On the upside

Insight Venture Partners will take Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT) private in an all cash deal valued at approximately $2 billion.

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) will pay approximately CA$1.3 billion to acquire Neo Materials Technologies.

While China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) does not have a contract with Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), it has over 15 million iPhone users on its 2G network.

On the downside

Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) from a Buy to a Neutral rating.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE: ARR) priced its offering of 31 million common shares.

Heckmann (NYSE: HEK) will pay approximately $245 million in cash and stock to acquire Thermo Fluids.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 10 points to 806.