Benzinga Mid-Morning Market Update

Following the market opening Wednesday morning, the Dow was up about 0.04 percent, to 13,463.37. The NASDAQ fell about 0.23 percent, to 3,110.51, while the S&P traded down 0.16 percent, decreasing to 1,439.29. Shares American Greetings AM shot up 17.71 percent Wednesday to $16.88 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 in early trading today, rising 1.84 percent to $6.72 following a press event yesterday that peaked investors' interest. Peregrine Pharmaceuticals PPHM also rallied, trading up 9.40 percent to $1.86. Nokia NOK took a hit in early trading, falling 4.07 percent to $2.59 per share after BMO Capital Markets downgraded it to Underperform yesterday. Jabil Circuit also fell, dropping 8.54 percent to $19.18 following a downbeat forecast. Shares of Blyth BTH took a beating, falling 18.33 percent to $26.60 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.