Benzinga Mid-Morning Market Update

Following the market opening Wednesday morning, the Dow traded up 0.24 percent to 13,133.71 while the NASDAQ rose 0.23 percent to 2,997.31. The S&P also rose, increasing 0.11 percent to 1,414.71. As a heads up for the week, we have now entered the most busy period of earnings season, so watch for some serious price action. Top Headline The Defense sector proved itself in a major way this morning, as both Lockheed Martin LMT and Boeing BA posted solid earnings beats in revenue and EPS. While the threat of defence cuts looms, both companies show no signs of weakness as they provided strong guidance for the fourth-quarter. Equities Trading UP Facebook FB surged this morning more than 21 percent to $23.65 after the company posted an EPS miss, but a revenue beat after the close yesterday. Polycom PLCM was also up, rising 14.47 percent to $10.60 following a revenue beat and guidance in-line with analyst estimates. Shares of RF Micro Devices RFMD rose 16.28 percent to $4.57 after DA Davidson increased its price target on the company Wednesday morning. Equities Trading DOWN Tempur Pedic TPX fell 22.12 percent to $24.82 after the company posted lower than expected revenue guidance after the close yesterday. United Therapeutics UTHR traded down 13.87 percent to $45.89 following downgrades at BMO Capital markets, and JP Morgan. Shares of Netflix NFLX also took a hit, falling 15.07 percent to $57.94 after Jeffries and BMO capital markets lowered their price targets on the company. Commodities In commodity news, oil traded down 0.48 percent to $88.30, while gold traded up 0.18 percent to $1,706.40. Silver traded up 0.05 percent Wednesday to $31.84. Euro Zone The European Central Bank's Mario Draghi made a strong defence for the ECB's bond buying program this morning, telling German politicians that their fears that the program would spur inflation would not come to fruition. There was also some confusion in Greece as the Greek Finance Minister announced the Troika had agreed to extend the Greek bailout, while German lawmakers said the opposite. As a result, European markets managed to post a rally. Economics In economic news, MBA mortgage applications were -12.0 percent, well below the prior figure of -4.2 percent. New home sales came in at 389 thousand, slightly above the expected 385 thousand and the previous figure of 368 thousand. New home Sales month over month came in at 5.7 percent, far above the expected 3.2 percent and the previous number of -1.3 percent. Also of note, at 2:15 the FOMC will be releasing its interest rate decision.