Mid-Day Market Update: Crude Oil Down Around 7%; Overstock.com Shares Spike Higher

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded down 0.57 percent to 24,326.11 while the NASDAQ declined 0.22 percent to 6,957.15. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.51 percent to 2,636.55.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

On Friday, the consumer staples shares climbed 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included New Age Beverages Corp NBEV up 5 percent, and Pyxus International, Inc. PYX up 4 percent.

In trading on Friday, energy shares fell 3.6 percent.

Top Headline

Deere & Company DE reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

Deere posted quarterly earnings of $2.30 per share on revenue of $8.34 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $2.45 per share on revenue of $8.58 billion.

Equities Trading UP

Orchids Paper Products Company TIS shares got a boost, shooting up 146 percent to $1.67 after the company announced a 'significant' new customer and $5.9 million increase in its credit line.

Shares of Sphere 3D Corp. ANY shot up 28 percent to $5.3675 on very heavy volume despite a lack of fundamental news. The stock is seeing continued volatility and interest following a nearly 200% move higher over Tuesday's session.

Overstock.com, Inc. OSTK shares were also up, gaining 25 percent to $21.25 as the e-commerce website announced a shift in its business model. Overstock, which formally launched the subsidiary cryptocurrency trading platform tZero August 2015, confirmed how serious it is about its crypto foray. The company is planning to put its core online retail business on the block, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, quoting CEO Patrick Byrne. Byrne, though not divulging the name of potential suitors, expressed confidence in the sale occuring in February, the Journal said.

Equities Trading DOWN

Ability Inc. ABIL shares dropped 46 percent to $3.00 after the company priced a $10 million stock and warrant offering at $3.25 per share and warrant combination.

Shares of Bristow Group Inc. BRS were down 19 percent to $5.0125. Bristow Group shares dropped 50 percent over last 2 weeks following Q2 earnings and news it will buy Columbia Helicopters.

Diana Containerships Inc. DCIX was down, falling around 15 percent to $1.1286 following Q3 earnings. Diana Containerships posted a Q3 loss of $0.61 per share on sales of $5.229 million.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 6.9 percent to $50.86 while gold traded down 0.33 percent to $1,224.00.

Silver traded down 1.57 percent Friday to $14.395, while copper fell 0.77 percent to $2.7865.

Eurozone

European shares were mostly higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 climbed 0.13 percent, the Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.13 percent, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 0.42 percent. Meanwhile the German DAX climbed 0.15 percent, and the French CAC 40 slipped 0.11 percent while U.K. shares fell 0.41 percent.

Economics

The Markit services PMI slipped to 54.40 in November, versus prior reading of 54.80. However, economists expected a reading of 55.00. The manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.40 for November, versus previous reading of 55.70. Economists projected a reading of 55.80.

Data on money supply for the latest week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.