Mid-Day Market Update: Friday's Market Movers; Friday's Job Report and The Interest Rates, Aquinox, Engility, Stamps.com, and More!

Friday’s July Job report was released; the numbers were in-line with the expectations of the Federal Reserve. 215,000 jobs were gained in the month of July while jobless rates remained at 5.3 percent. Average hourly earnings for workers were up 2.1 percent from a year ago, but did not show signs of wage acceleration.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a broader measure of the unemployment, which concludes people working part-time who are interested in working full-time and discouraged workers, fell down to 10.4 percent versus 10.5 percent in June, and had decreased nearly 2 percent from a year ago.

The Federal Reserve previously announced their projections for the unemployment rate, one of the most crucial economic indicators, to be in the range of 5.2-5.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. Since the 5.3 percent rate in July is in-line with the Fed’s projections, it is safe to say the Feds will still be on track for a short-term interest rate hike before the New Years; but the real question is whether these “improvements” are enough to boost inflation to the central bank’s 2 percent objective.

Bond king Bill Gross, of Janus Capital Group Inc, warned that the economy is “dangerously close to deflationary growth.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Index declined 0.60 percent, the S&P 500 fell 0.54 percent, the NASDAQ Composite dwindled 0.65 percent, crude oil WTI fell 1 percent, and the US Dollar Index fell 0.35 percent in Friday’s midday session.

Stocks still continued to move:
Winners:
Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc AQXP skyrocketed a whopping 331 percent after the pharmaceuticals company announced positive results from its secondary endpoints for its Phase II LEADERSHIP trial.

Engility Holdings Inc EGL soared 32 percent after the engineering, technical, analytical, advisory, training, logistics, and support services provider reported Q2 earnings; the company reported sales of $575 million and an adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.51.

Career Education Corp CECO was lifted 32 percent after the company reported a loss of $0.07 per share, $0.17 better than analyst expectations of a loss of $0.24 per share.

Stamps.com Inc STMP was heightened 29 percent after the provider of internet-based mailing and shipping solutions reported Q2 earnings; the company reported earnings of $0.97 per share, way above the $0.71 per share analysts were expecting, on sales of $48.4 million, up 41.4 percent year-over-year.

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc NUS gained 20 percent after the global direct selling company reported Q3 earnings; the company reported earnings of $0.75 per share, up from $0.32 per share in the prior year period.

Losers:
Fluidigm Corporation FLDM dwindled 40 percent after the technologies and life science tools manufacturer reported a Q2 loss; the company had a loss of $15.2 million on sales of $28.62 million. Analysts expected sales of $30.43 million.

NeoPhotonics Corporation NPTN declined 36 percent after the optoelectronic manufacturer reported Q2 results; the company reported earnings of $0.14 per share, above analysts expectations of $0.12, but issued bad guidance: it expects to announce earnings of $0.01-$0.09 per share for Q3, below analysts expected $0.13 per share.

Tangoe Inc TNGO was down 32 percent after the global provider of connection lifecycle management reported a loss of $2.6 million for Q2 ($0.10 per share) versus analyst expectations of $0.19.

TCP International Holdings Ltd TCPI moved lower 29 percent after the global provider of efficient light-emitting diode reported a Q2 loss; the company had a loss of $1.7 million, $0.03 per share on sales of $111.2 million.