Wall Street was mixed at midday on Friday as some quarterly reports failed to inspire investors.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.21 percent lower to 12,541.50, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.04 percent to 2,444.11 and the S&P 500 was 0.11 percent higher to 1,427.87.

IBM dropped $3.82 to $95.63 even though it reported profits that were better than anticipated in the fourth quarter.  A portion of the increase in profits was due to a change in IBM’s tax rates.  Meanwhile, General Electric dropped 79 cents to $37.21 on disappointing results in its fiscal first quarter.

Citigroup also saw declines, with its share price dropping 34 cents to $54.05 due to a 26 percent decrease in profits in the fourth quarter.

Motorola added 67 cents to $19.38.  It had warned in January that its fourth quarter profits would not meet expectations due to discounts on mobile phones.  And, indeed, its earnings were lower, but turned out to be better than the warnings had led investors to expect.

Mergers and acquisitions also played into the days results.  Morgan Stanley added 55 cents to $81.76 after its real estate unit said it would buy hotel real-estate investment trust CNL Hotel & Resorts, spending $3.13 billion on the transaction.  Abbott Laboratories added 61 cents to $53.40, its highest share price in a year, after it said it will sell part of its medical testing division to General Electric.

Equities markets were higher at midday on Monday in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.75 percent higher to 12,076.41, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3 percent to 2,361.12 and the S&P 500 had added 0.9 percent to 1,376.69.

Four Seasons Hotels was 30 percent higher to $83.01 on a $3.7 billion bid by a group which includes current Four Seasons chairman and chief executive Isadore Sharp, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, and a Saudi Arabian prince. The bid works out to $82 per share in cash, 28 percent higher than last week’s closing share price.

In other bids news, this time in the pharmaceuticals sector, Abbott Laboratories said it will purchase Kos Pharmaceuticals for $3.7 billion cash, or $78 per share, 56 percent higher than Kos’ Friday close. Kos added 54 percent to $76.99 but Abbot dropped 0.08 percent to $47.60. Elsewhere in the sector, however, biopharmaceuticals company Adolor dropped 44 percent to $7.80 on the news that the Food and Drug Administration has asked for more testing on a new drug that had been expected to gain approval this week.

Home improvement retailers were lower on the session. Home Depot fell 0.75 percent to $36.92 on a downgrade from UBS due to the weaker housing market. Rival Lowes dropped 0.8 percent to $28.81.

Falling crude oil prices and gains in the retail and homebuilding sectors helped the New York equities markets to gains by the middle of the day on Wednesday after two days of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed 0.6 percent to 11,065.27, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.9 percent to 2,181.50 and the S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent to 1,271.15.

The pharmaceuticals sector was up after GlaxoSmithKline said it was considering purchasing Pfizer’s consumer unit if the right price could be reached. This sent shares in Pfizer up 1.1 percent to $24.11. In addition, Abbott Labs gained 1.9 percent to $43.05.

Retailers were up, led by a 3.6 percent gain to $49.31 for Target. In supermarkets, Kroger added 1.9 percent to $20.13, while Supervalu gained 2 percent to $29.39.

After a dismal day on Tuesday, homebuilders were up on the day. DR Horton gained 1.5 percent to $23.75. Pulte, meanwhile, was up 1.9 percent to $28.65.

The chemicals sector was not so fortunate after Deutsche Bank issued downgrades to Dupont and Dow Chemical. Dow was down 0.5 percent to $39.37 and Dupont lost 1.3 percent to $41.64.

While the drop in crude oil prices helped investor sentiment, it did not help the energy sector. Schlumberger and Occidental Petroleum each had lost 1.8 percent by mid-session, to $62.79 and $96.03 respectively.

In much the same way, falling commodities prices sent shares in companies dealing in metals downward. Alcoa was down 2.4 percent to $29.97, while Freeport McMoran dropped 3 percent to $51.22.

Afternoon trade on Monday saw the New York equities markets mixed as crude oil and commodities prices dropped and investors were still worried about inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent to 11,342.25, but the Nasdaq Composite had declined 0.9 percent to 2,223.57 and the S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower to 1,285.29.

With copper down 9 percent and the price of gold back below $700 per troy ounce, miners saw declines on the day. Newmont Mining fell 3.7 percent to $54.22, while aluminium producer Alcan was down to $52.98, a drop of 5.7 percent. Additionally, the price of crude oil was down almost 2 percent, which sent oil company ConocoPhillips down 3.5 percent to $62.92. Oilfield services company BJ Services lost 5.2 percent to $35.55.

Ethanol producer Archer Daniels Midland was also hurt by declining oil prices. ADM shares declined by 3.3 percent to $42.64.

In the retail sector, discounter Target lost 4.5 percent to $49.85, its lowest level in a year. Despite reporting that quarterly earnings were up 12 percent, investors were disappointed by lower gross margins.

Pharmaceuticals companies did better, with the sector as a whole up by 1.1 percent. Abbott Laboratories added 2.4 percent to $42.42, while Merck was up 1.5 percent to $34.79. The sector was helped by an announcement from AstraZeneca that it will purchase Cambridge Antibody Technology, a UK biotechnology company.