Merger and acquisition news lifted the markets during the midday with the Dow surging 183 points to 12,042. Nasdaq soared 48 points to 2691.
On the upside
YRC Worldwide (Nasdaq: YRCW) will hire nearly 1,000 drivers for its Holland unit.
Verigy (Nasdaq: VRGY) announced that Advantest's offer to purchase Verigy for $15 per share is superior to Verigy's bid to purchase LTX-Credence. Verigy will now withdraw its recommendation to acquire LTX-Credence.
The Federal Communications Commission granted Globalstar (Nasdaq: GSAT) authority to operate its second generation satellites within the United States.
On the downside
Raymond James downgraded cellphone tower companies American Tower (NYSE: AMT), Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI) and SBA Communications (Nasdaq: SBAC) saying that the AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile may lower the need for cell sites.
Seeking Alpha contributor Edward Stevenson said that Coffee Holding (Nasdaq: JVA) was overvalued.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 16 points 811.
