At midday on Monday, Wall Street was running behind due to less than desirable corporate earnings reports as well as investor uncertainty about events in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were each 0.2 percent lower at mid-session, to 11,194.88 and 1,275.46 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.3 percent to 2,088.29.

Among the companies issuing disappointing quarterly reports were Avon and Tyson Foods. Cosmetics maker Avon was down 9.3 percent to $29.75 after it said its profits dropped by 54 percent in the second quarter. It blamed most of the decline on costs incurred during a restructuring. Meanwhile, Tyson Foods reported that it lost $52 million in the second quarter, more than had been expected. Tyson dropped 2.3 percent to $14.23.

On the other hand, health insurer Humana added 5.3 percent to $54.28 on a quarterly report that was better than had been expected.

Office Depot also had an earnings report, issued on Friday, that topped analyst estimates. By noon on Monday the office supplies retailer had added 5.4 percent to $36.20.

Coal producers were also having a good day after Merrill Lynch said that there would be more demand for coal as other energy sources cost increasingly more. Peabody Energy was 6.2 percent higher to $48.89, while Arch Coal added 7.2 percent to $37.18.

On reports that it might be purchased by Grupo Mexico, miner Phelps Dodge gained 7.2 percent to $87.40.

Computer makers were mixed on the day. Dell was 2.5 percent lower to $21.66. On the other hand, Apple Computer added 3.6 percent to $67.96 after it was upgraded from “neutral” to “buy” from Bank of America.

The New York equities markets were up on Friday and on track to have their best week in over six months. At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.1 percent to 11,219.32, an advance of 3.2 percent during the week. The Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.3 percent to 2,081.67, gaining 3 percent on the week. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was also up 1.1 percent on the day so far to 1,276.48, up 2.9 percent over the week.

Automakers had a good week. General Motors was up 11.4 percent in the course of the week to $32.29 even though its quarterly report showed a loss of $3.2 billion in consequence of the company’s employee buy-out plan. Without that expense, the car company’s operating profit was $1.2 billion in the quarter, better than had been expected. The news helped Ford, which saw an 8.4 percent gain on the week to $6.81.

In the telecommunications sector, AT&T added 10.4 percent to end the week at $30.19 after its second quarter report showed that earnings had rise by 81 percent, largely due to Cingular Wireless.

Oil and oil services companies also saw gains on the week. ExxonMobil was up 4.7 percent to $66.91 after it said that its quarterly profits was over $10 billion, up 36 percent. BJ Services, meanwhile, gained 15.2 percent this week to $34.62 on profits that were up by 86 percent in their third quarter.

There were losers on the week. Corning dropped 12.6 percent to $19.41on a warning that sales in the third quarter are not likely to rise to analysts forecasts. The problem is an increase in inventories of its liquid crystal display glass. Elsewhere, Amazon fell 19.4 percent during the week, bringing its decline since the first of the year to 43 percent. The internet retailer closed out the week at $26.75.

Wall Street was higher at midday on Thursday despite major declines in the health insurance sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 percent higher at mid-session to 11,174.87, while the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.5 percent to 2,081.01 and the S&P 500 was up by 0.4 percent to 1,272.92.

Semiconductors were higher, with National Semiconductor 4.8 percent higher to $22.55 and Broadcom gaining 4.9 percent to $23.04.

Cable tv provider Comcast added 5.3 percent to $34.25 after it reported that profits were up 7 percent in the second quarter and it upped its subscriber growth forecast for the year.

Symantec was up 10.3 percent to $17.42 even though the maker of anti-virus software reported that its profits were down by 52 percent in its first quarter, with operating expenses more than doubled. The gain came because the results were better than had been expected.

Health insurer Aetna dropped 19.8 percent to $32.03 on a 1 percent decline in earnings in the second quarter, but even more due to investor concerns about large claims on its Stop-Loss product. The rest of the sector was also lower. Cigna fell by 7.1 percent to $96.81, while Humana was 4.5 percent lower to $53.97 and United Healthcare dropped 4.2 percent to $48.43.

Dow Chemical was down 9.6 percent to $33.70 after it reported that second-quarter earnings were 19 percent lower because record revenues had been offset by higher prices for fuel.

Mixed news from earnings reports kept the New York equities markets down slightly on Wednesday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was less than a point lower to 11,103.16, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3 percent to 2,067.64 and the S&P 500 also down less than a point, to 1,268.30.

In a report released after the close of trade on Tuesday, Amazon said that its quarterly earnings were down by 58 percent due to discounts on shipping and the end of its contract with Toysrus.com. Shares in Amazon dropped 19.9 percent to $26.92.

General Motors and Boeing both reported losses in the quarter. A net loss of $3.2 billion in the second quarter didn’t seem to shake the confidence of investors in General Motors. This was helped by operating earnings that were higher than had been expected at $1.2 billion, taking shares 4.9 percent higher to $32.15. Boeing, however, fell 3.9 percent to $80.46 even though its losses, related to the settlement of an investigation into its defense business, were expected.

Shares in companies that depend on the discretionary spending of consumers were down. Starbucks was down 4.2 percent to $33.90, while hotel Las Vegas Sands was also 4.2 percent lower to $66.42.

Glassmaker Corning dropped 10.7 percent to $19.34 even though second quarter profits tripled. It said that sales in the third-quarter would not live up to estimates. Shares in Corning have lost a third of their value since the beginning of May.

A falling transportation sector led the New York equities markets lower by midday on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 percent to 11,018.64, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 each had dropped by 0.2 percent, to 2,058.46 and 1,258.22 respectively.

United Parcel Service fell 14.5 percent to $68.44, its worst ever one-day performance. The decline came after its quarterly report did not meet expectations and it said that full-year earnings would only reach the low end of what has been forecast. The problems of Ups dragged the rest of the sector down as well. Federal Express dropped 2.7 percent to $107.50, while Burlington Northern Santa Fe declined by 4.5 percent to $66.67 and Expeditors International was 4.8 percent lower to $46.

The telecommunications sector, on the other hand, was up after AT&T said that its second quarter earnings were up by 81 percent. AT&T gained 4.4 percent to $28.99, while BellSouth added 4.8 percent to $37.95. BellSouth is scheduled to be purchased by AT&T later in the year.

In the technology sector, Sandisk added 14.8 percent to $37.95 after it reported that strong sales of memory cards for mobile phones sent profits up 36 percent in the quarter. Meanwhile, Texas Instruments reported that its earnings were up by 27 percent in the quarter, sending its shares 4.3 percent higher to $29.03.

BJ Services added 5.5 percent to $32.76 on third-quarter profits that were up by 86 percent.

Wall Street results were mixed at midday on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite down for the week and the day so far, while both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down on the day but up for the week. The Dow was down 0.3 percent on the day until noon but up 1.4 percent on the week to 10,893.52, while the Nasdaq was 0.5 percent lower for the day and 0.4 percent lower for the week to 2,028.46 and the S&P was down 0.3 percent for the day and 0.7 percent higher over the week.

Computer-related stocks were mixed. Software company Microsoft had a weekly gain of 7.2 percent to $23.90. Even though its quarterly report showed earnings down 24 percent, it was helped by the announcement of a $40 billion share buyback. Among computer makers, Apple Computer added 20.6 percent over the week to $61.09 on profits that were 48 percent higher in the second quarter, but Dell was 12.6 percent lower to $19.14 after it said that profits in the second quarter would not meet predictions. Internet search engine Yahoo fell 20 percent during the week to $25.68 on a 78 percent drop in earnings in the second quarter, even though these losses were expected.

In the semiconductor sector, Advanced Micro Devices was down 11.5 percent this week to $19.12 despite reporting higher profits in the quarter. Investors were worried about lower revenues due to margins that were being cut in the effort to compete with Intel, which dropped 3 percent on the week.

Oil services companies saw losses during the week after oil prices dropped during the week. BJ Services lost 13.3 percent to $30.35, while Halliburton dropped 17.3 percent to $30.55.

The New York equities markets were virtually flat at midday on Thursday as some quarterly reports did not live up to expectations. At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped just 2.64 points to 11,008.78 and the S&P 500 dropped less than a point to 1,269.66. The Nasdaq Composite saw bigger losses, dropping 0.7 percent to 2,067.87.

Not all the earnings reports were disappointing. Apple Computer reported that its second-quarter profits were up 48 percent on sales of Macintosh computers and iPods. Shares in Apple were up 12.3 percent by noon to $60.73, but that still left the computer maker down 15.8 percent since the beginning of the year.

Motorola was ahead of expectations with its report that earnings were up 48 percent in the second quarter due to record handset sales. Shares advanced by 10.3 percent to $21.23.

Safeway added 7.6 percent to $27.63 on a report of profits that were 84 percent higher than last year during the same period.

Intel dropped 4.8 percent to $17.61 after it said that lower chip prices resulted in a 57 percent drop in profits in the second quarter. The chipmaker’s chief financial officer said that yearly sales would probably not meet estimates made in April.

Meanwhile, Johnson Controls dropped 10.2 percent $73 even though its earnings in the second quarter were up.

The New York equities markets were up at midday on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made comments to a Congressional committee that led analysts to believe that the string of interest rate hikes by the Fed might soon be over. Also encouraging investors were new, positive earnings reports. They seemed not to pay much attention to data indicating that inflation is strong.

At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the S&P 500 were each 1.4 percent higher, to 10,948.51, 1,071.09, and 1,254.23 respectively.

Not included in the strong quarterly earnings reports was Yahoo, which dropped 21 percent to $25.62 on its report that earnings were down 78 percent in the second quarter. The drop in earnings had been expected, but investors were unhappy that a new advertising platform’s introduction had been put off.

Financial sectors did will, however. JPMorgan Chase was up 5.3 percent to $42.87 on higher expected profits in the second quarter, while Bank of New York gained 6.5 percent to $33.91 after it reported second quarter earnings were up by 13 percent.

Among discount brokers, Ameritrade added 5.2 percent to $15.46 and E*trade was up 5.3 percent to $21.95.

Homebuilders saw gains after Mr. Bernanke’s testimony raised the possibility that interest rates might not go too much higher. Lennar added 3.6 percent to $41.96, while Pulte gained 3.8 percent to $28.08.

A combination of continuing concerns about the Middle East, lack of investor enthusiasm over quarterly earnings reports, and producer price inflation data that was above expectations to the New York equities markets lower at mid-session on Tuesday. Producer prices, which were expected to remain level in June, were 0.5 percent higher overall, with the core PPI at 0.2 percent higher.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 10,734.87, while the Nasdaq composite had dropped 0.5 percent to 2,928.34 and the S&P 500 had fallen 0.2 percent to 1,231.91.

The retail sector was down as investors worried about a downturn in sales. Target dropped 5.3 percentr to $45.01 after it said it was lowering its sales forecast. The announcement led AG Edwards to downgrade its recommendation on the discount retailer from “buy” to “hold”. Elsewhere in the sector, Nordstrom declined by 3.9 percent to $32.25, while JC Penney was down 4.3 percent to $62.82 and Federated Department Stores was 4.6 percent lower to $32.92.

Merrill Lynch dropped 1.9 percent to $67.01 even though its profits were up a reported 44 percent in the second quarter.

United Technologies and Coca-Cola also reported quarterly results that were better than expected. United Technologies, with earnings up 14 percent, added 1.1 percent to $58.58. Coca-Cola was 1.2 percent higher to $43.19 on its report showing profits up by 7 percent in the second quarter.

In the engineering sector, ITT Industries was up 4.5 percent to $47.81 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Merrill Lynch.

The equities markets in New York were mixed without moving much of anywhere by the middle of the afternoon on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent to 10,762.97. The Nasdaq Composite was also up 0.2 percent to 2,041.49, while the S&P 500 was barely down, just 0.24 points, to 1,235.96. While investors were still concerned about the ongoing unrest in the Middle East, there was some positive data to provide a counterpoint. The Federal Reserve said that industrial output was up in June more than had been expected, with capacity utilization at 82.4 percent. That was the highest it has been since June 2000.

A drop in the price of crude oil sent oil and related stocks down. ConocoPhillips fell 3.3 percent to $65.21, while Halliburton dropped 4.6 percent to $35.12.

Miners were lower as well as the price of copper dropped. Phelps Dodge was down 3.9 percent to $76.71 and Freeport McMoran declined by 4.9 percent to $51.75.

Mattel added 11.6 percent to $17.72 after the toymaker reported that it made a profit in the second quarter, mostly on the sale of toys linked to new movie releases.

In the banking sector, Citigroup dropped 2.4 percent to $46.46. It’s second-quarter report showed that profits were up 4 percent. That was only a bit lower than analysts had predicted, but it was enough for Prudential to downgrade the banker from “overweight” to “neutral weight”.