Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Go Red; Ak Steel Plunges Again

Midway through trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.03 percent to 12,811.27 while the NASDAQ fell 0.31 percent to 2,895.27. The S&P rose, increasing 0.02 percent to 1,380.27. Top Headline
In a surprise move after the close Monday, Microsoft's MSFT Windows Live president Steven Sinofsky announced he would be leaving the company. While both Sinofsky and Microsoft had nothing but good things to say about one and other, investors were shaken by the departure of the lead behind the Windows 8 project shortly after its launch. The news lead to a near 3 percent drop in Microsoft's share price Tuesday morning. Equities Trading UP
Dynavax Technologies DVAX traded up 11.72 percent to $4.67 after the FDA issued a staff review saying the company's HEPLISAV did not have any clinically significant differences in safety versus Glaxo's Engerix-B. Shares of Clean Energy Fuels CLNE also saw a boost, rising 12.39 percent to $12.43 after the company announced it would buy technology from General Electric that allows it to liquefy natural gas, and would receive a loan of up to $200 million from GE Capital Halcon Resources HK rallied 9.57 percent to $5.90 after the company filed a series of SEC form 4's on Monday. Equities Trading DOWN
Weatherford International WFT fell 15.85 percent to $9.15 after the company announced it would have to refile its first-quarter earnings statement and missed on revenue after the close Monday. AK Steel AKS was also down, dropping 16.94 percent to $4.54 after the company announced $475 million in new debt offerings and a 25 million share common stock offering before the market opening Tuesday. The debt offering, which nearly matches the $545.4 million market cap of the company clearly worried investors. Later in the day, Moody's downgraded AK Steel CFR to B2, sending the stock down further. Shares of Tronox TROX fell further, declining 17.25 percent at $15.49 following a very poor earnings report after the close Monday. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.20 percent to $85.40, while gold traded down 0.28 percent to $1,726.10. Silver traded down 0.05 percent Tuesday to $32.47. Eurozone
European markets traded down Tuesday morning as the EU and IMF renewed their struggle over details of the Greek bailout. The Euro got a slight boost Tuesday morning after a German newspaper reported that the German government was currently at work on at EU44B aid package to cover Greece for the remainder of the year. Economics
In economic news Tuesday morning, the NFIB small business optimism came in at 93.1, slightly above the expected 93.0 and the prior report of 92.8. IBD/TIPP economic optimism came in at 48.6, well below the expected 53.8 and the previous figure of 54.0. The federal budget balance was also announced, coming in at $-120.0 billion, worse than the expected $-114.0 billion, and far below the prior figure of $75.0 billion.