Mid-Morning Market Update: JP Morgan Chase Annual Meeting Could Oust Dimon, Small Business Confidence Up

Following the market opening Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.28 percent to 15,133.43, while the NASDAQ rose 0.46 percent to reach 3,454.73. The S&P also rose 0.52 percent to 1,642.23.

The debate regarding the current dual role of Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase

might see an end when JPM shareholders meet for their AGM in Florida this weekend. Jamie Chase has been fulfilling the roles of chairman as well as CEO at JPM. According to Professor Andrew Metrick of the Yale School of Management, separating out the roles of chairman of the board and SEO might not necessarily mean that JP Morgan Chase has become more responsive to its shareholders. On the other hand, Dimon has hinted that if he is forced to give up his role as chairman, he might leave the company altogether. Officially, shareholders will get the opportunity at the annual meeting to vote to have Dimon stripped of his chairman role. However, last year's experience shows that the shareholder vote might just be defeated once again. According to Mike Mayo, analyst at CLSA, JPM's shares are likely to take a 10% hit (equating to about $20 billion) if Dimon chooses to leave the company.

InterOil Corporation

shot up, gaining 14.97 percent to $89.60 after InterOil reported its 1Q 2013 results with higher-than-expected EPS and revenues. Konami Corp

was also up 11.17 percent to $25.31. Konami Corp's trailing twelve month ROE stands at 6.11 percent. Sony Corporation

got a boost, shooting up 10.89 percent to $20.95. A US hedge fund had proposed to acquire up to 20 percent stake in Sony's entertainment business. Sony, responded on Tuesday that its entertainment business was not for sale and emphasized that the company was working on strengthening the entertainment and electronics divisions.

Unilife Corporation

shares tumbled 7.98 percent to $3.46. Unilife's trailing twelve month ROA stands at -39.12 percent Trina Solar Limited

was down, falling 7.08 percent to $5.51, after Trina Solar revised its estimate for solar module shipments for the quarter ended March 2013 down from 420-430 megawatts to 390-400 megawatts. Shares of SolarCity Corporation

were down 3.32 percent to $34.69. SolarCity reported its first quarter loss per share higher than the analyst estimates.

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.01 percent to $95.16, while gold dropped 0.06 percent to $1,433.50. Silver traded down 0.64 percent Tuesday to $23.55, while copper fell 1.95 percent to $3.29.

European shares were mostly lower following the mixed economic data. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.6 percent and the Italian FTSE MIB Index declined 0.22 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.21 percent and the French CAC 40 lost 0.43 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.1 percent.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index was up 2.6 points to 92.1, following the decline of 1.3 points to 89.5 points in March. ICSC-Goldman reported a decline of 2 percent in its same store sales index from the previous week to a y-o-y rate of plus 1.2 percent. ICSC-Goldman attributed the decline to the unusually cold weather. Import and export prices registered a decline in April, with import prices falling 0.5 percent for the second consecutive month, with a decline of 0.1 percent, ex-petroleum. Export prices dropped 0.7 percent in April, with agricultural prices at minus 2.2 percent.