Benzinga Mid-Afternoon Market Update

Following the market open Wednesday morning, the Dow was down about 0.23 percent, to 13,426.69. The NASDAQ fell about 0.73 percent, to 3,095.05, while the S&P traded down 0.44 percent, decreasing to 1,435.26. Shares American Greetings AM shot up 17.29 percent Wednesday to $16.82 after the board of directors announced the receipt of a “going private offer” of $17.18 per share. Research in Motion RIMM continued its gain midway through the afternoon, rising 6.21 percent to $7.01 following a press event Tuesday that peaked investor interest. Peregrine Pharmaceuticals PPHM lost its gains from earlier in the day, dropping 3.54 percent to $1.64. Nokia NOK took a hit in early trading, falling 3.89 percent to $2.60 per share after BMO Capital Markets downgraded it to Underperform yesterday. Jabil Circuit JBL also fell, dropping 9.73 percent to $18.93 following a downbeat forecast. Shares of Blyth BTH took a beating, falling 21.28 percent to $25.65 following its subsidiary, ViSalus, announcing it would withdraw its IPO due to uncertain market conditions. In economic news, new home sales came in at 373 thousand, below the expected 380 thousand, and slightly below the previous figure of 374 thousand. New home sales month over month also were reported, coming in at -0.3 percent, far below the expected 2.2 percent, and further below the previous figure of 3.6 percent. MBA mortgage applications came in at 2.8 percent, much higher than the prior figure of -0.2 percent. Crude oil inventories came in at -2.446 million, well below the expected 1.9 million, and below the previous figure of 8.534 million. Gasoline inventories were also reported, coming in at -481 thousand, below the expected 500 thousand, but above the prior figure of -1.407 million. Finally, US distillate inventory was reported, coming in at -482 thousand, below the expected 500 thousand and the previous figure, -322 thousand.