Mid-Day Market Update: Mattel Surges On Upbeat Earnings; Stanley Black & Decker Shares Slip

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded up 1.26 percent to 15,358.64 while the NASDAQ surged 1.11 percent to 3,836.04. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.28 percent to 1,719.82. Top Headline
Bank of America BAC reported a rise in its third-quarter profit. Bank of America's quarterly profit surged to $2.5 billion, from $340 million, in the year-earlier quarter. Its per share earnings came in at $0.20, beating analysts' estimates of $0.19 per share. Its revenue declined to $22.2 billion, from $22.5 billion. Equities Trading UP
Advance Auto Parts AAP shot up 16.24 percent to $ 95.90 after the company announced its plans to buy General Parts for $2.04 billion. Shares of MGIC Investment MTG got a boost, shooting up 14.83 percent to $8.34 after the company reported upbeat Q3 profit. Mattel MAT was also up, gaining 2.74 percent to $42.69 after the company reported a 16% gain in its third-quarter net income. Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Stanley Black & Decker SWK were down 13.39 percent to $77.53 after the company reported a 44% rise in its third-quarter earnings and cut its outlook for the year. Molycorp MCP shares tumbled 6.63 percent to $5.21 after the company priced 45 million shares of common stock at $5.00 per share. Green Dot GDOT was down, falling 4.91 percent to $20.55 after Janney Capital downgraded the stock from Neutral to Sell. Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.86 percent to $102.08, while gold traded down 0.07 percent to $1,272.30. Silver traded up 0.16 percent Wednesday to $21.23, while copper rose 0.20 percent to $3.31. Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.75 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 1.45 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.47 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.29 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.34 percent. Economics
The MBA's index of mortgage application activity fell 0.30% for the week ended October 11, from a prior reading of 1.30%. The NAHB housing market index declined to 55 in October, versus 57 in September. However, economists were expecting a reading of 57.00. The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book at 2:00 p.m. ET.