Benzinga Mid-Afternoon Market Update

Towards the end of trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 1.01 percent to 13,338.11 while the NASDAQ fell 0.50 percent to 3,049.78. The S&P also fell, decreasing 0.66 percent to 1,431.96. Equities Trading UP True Religion Apparel TRLG consolidated its gain, up 22.23 percent to $25.68 midday Wednesday when the company announced it would look into strategic alternatives, including selling the company. AuRico Gold AUQ continued its rise, trading up 20.33 percent to $7.73 after it announced the sale of its Mexican assets. Shares Affymax AFFY were also up, increasing 9.22 percent to $25.95. Equities Trading DOWN SkyWest SKYW fell 6.99 percent to $10.24 Wednesday afternoon following its September traffic volume report after the close Tuesday. Velti VELT was also down, falling 6.66 percent to $7.85 . Yelp YELP also fell, dropping 7.03 percent to $25.50, possibly linked to rumors that Facebook is testing a new restaurant review feature. Commodities In commodity news, Oil traded down 1.17 percent to $91.30, while Gold traded even at $1,765.00. Silver traded down 0.01 percent midway through Wednesday to $33.98. Euro Zone There have been periodic comments this morning out of the EU stating various country's commitment to holding the zone together. Spain's Rajoy commented that a Greek exit from the zone would show a failure on the part of the Euro. Economics In economic news, MBA mortgage applications came in at -1.2 percent, far below the previous figure of 16.6 percent. Wholesale inventories were also reported, coming in at 0.5 percent, slightly lower than the expected 0.6 percent, and below the prior figure of 0.7 percent. The Fed also released its Beige book findings, which primarily said that economic growth was very slow, while employment conditions were little changed. The Fed went on to say that energy sector growth remained strong and price pressures were contained.