Wall Street was higher at midday on Friday after the Commerce Department said that retail sales were up 0.6 percent in September over August’s numbers, twice the gain that had been expected.

In addition, the Labor Department said that wholesale prices added 1.1 percent last month.

However, when food and energy prices were excluded from the data, wholesale prices were only up 0.1 percent.

At mid-session the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.41 percent to 14,073, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.96 percent higher to 2,799.16 and the S&P 500 gained 0.41 percent to 1,560.86.

Technology-related businesses helped the gains.

Software manufacturer Oracle (NAS: ORCL) was 15 cents higher to $22.61 after it made a $6.66 million bid for rival BEA Systems (NAS: BEAS), which added $4.44 to $18.06.

Chipmaking equipment manufacturers were higher after Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronic Co (SEO: 005930) said it will increase capital spending on the production of semiconductors by over $1 billion.

Rudolph Technologies Inc (NAS: RTEC) was up 38 cents to $13.80, while Applied Materials (NAS: AMAT; SEHK: 4336) gained 81 cents to $20.94 and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc (NAS: VSEA) added $2.67 to $48.55.

Elsewhere, General Motors (NYSE: GM) added $1.48 to $41.47 after it said that sales in Latin America were up.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) dropped 93 cents to $40.66 even though its earnings were up 14 percent in the third quarter.

In the banking sector, Citigroup (NYSE: C) fell 68 cents to $47.65 after it said it will join its alternative investments and investment banking division into a single business.

The news spurred Deutsche Bank to cut its recommendation on Citigroup from “buy” to “sell” on the grounds that the changes are not enough.

The New York equities markets were higher in the afternoon on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.4 percent to 12,299.57 after going as high as 12,325.91 earlier in the session, a new all-time high. The Nasdaq Composite had added 0.2 percent to 2,447.67, while the S&P 500 was 0.3 percent higher to 1,400.89.

Dell Computer dropped 3.5 percent to $24.86 after it delayed its preliminary third-quarter report due to a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the company’s accounting practices. On the other hand, Hewlett Packard added 0.7 percent to $40.07 ahead of its quarterly report, due to be released after the close of trade.

Elsewhere among technology-related sectors, Applied Materials was 4.2 percent lower to $17.87 on a warning that sales will decline on the order of 5 to 10 percent. Internet search engine Google, however, added 0.8 percent to $495.80.

There was bids news in the media sector. Clear Channel Communications, the radio station operator, added 3.9 percent to $35.46 and went as high as $35.88 after it agreed to be acquired by a group of private equity firms for $19 billion. Meanwhile, Readers Digest added 7.8 percent to $16.69 after it agreed to be purchased by a group of investors.

In the retail sector, Sears dropped 5.4 percent to $169.51 after earnings were lower than had been anticipated.

There was good news and bad news on Wall Street on Wednesday. The good news was that the Dow Jones Industrial Average went above 12,000 for the first time in history, early in the session, before dropping back to end the day 0.36 percent higher to 11,992.68. The bad news was that it could not hold above 12,000 due to unfavorable earnings reports from the Apollo Group and Motorola. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite ended the session 0.3 percent lower to 2,337.15, while the S&P 500 closed at 1,365.96, a gain of 0.1 percent.

Motorola dropped 4.9 percent to $23.64 after it reported that its third quarter revenues were 17 percent higher to $10.6 billion. The decline was attributed revenues not reaching levels anticipated by analysts and in-company estimates.

Apollo Group reported that quarterly earnings were down and said that an investigation into how it grants stock options had found problems. The news sent the for-profit education company’s shares 22.9 percent lower to $37.55.

The semiconductors sector saw declines, as well. The exception was Intel, which added 1 percent to $21.11 even though it reported that quarterly earnings were down. Despite the decline, earnings did better than had been anticipated. Elsewhere in the sector, Analog Devices was 3.6 percent lower to $29.68, while EMC dropped 4.1 percent to $12.18 on a decline in quarterly profits and Applied Materials was 4.6 percent lower to $17.82.

IBM did better, adding 3.3 percent to $89.82 on better earnings than had been predicted. Also helping the computer maker higher was an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Goldman Sachs.

Yahoo was instrumental in the day’s decline for the Nasdaq, dropping 4.8 percent to $22.99 on a quarterly report that did not meet expectations and which brought a downgrade from “outperform” to “market perform” from Piper Jaffray.

The New York equities markets were up at midday on Monday, but investors were cautious a day ahead of the next meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will decide whether or not to raise interest rates again after holding off on a hike last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent higher to 11,579.18, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.5 percent to 2,245.93 and the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent to 1,324.03.

Homebuilders were up, with Toll Brothers gaining 1.6 percent to $28.53 and Pulte up 1.7 percent to $32.50. The gains did not extend to home improvement retailer Home Depot, however, which dropped 1.5 percent to $36.68 on a downgrade from “outperform” to “neutral” from Credit Suisse.

The semiconductors sector was also higher. Nvidia was 2.9 percent higher to $30.41 and Advanced Micro Devices advanced by 3.3 percent to $27.40. Freescale Semiconductor added 5.7 percent to $39.29 after it was announced that it would be acquired by a private equity consortium. Meanwhile, chip making equipment manufacturer Applied Materials gained 3.4 percent to $17.78 on the announcement of another share buyback.

The possibility of cuts in production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a statement from Iran that claimed that its offer to halt its enrichment of uranium was misunderstood in the West sent shares in oil companies higher. ExxonMobil was 2 percent higher to $65.94, while Schlumberger added 2.8 percent to $57.84.

Ford Motor was down again, falling 2.2 percent to $7.84, as investors continued to react to an announcement Friday that among its cost-cutting measures would be the elimination of a third of its payroll.

Earnings reports helped the New York equities markets to advances by mid-session on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent to 11,455.83, while the Nadsaq Composite was 0.9 percent higher to 2,192.96 an the S&P 500 had added 0.6 percent to 1,306.90.

Flat-panel television sales helped Best Buy to second quarter earnings that were higher than had been expected. The electronics retailer was 5.8 percent higher to $50.54. These results, with their implication that consumers are spending more than had been assumed, helped out the homebuilding sector. Pulte added 4.5 percent to $30.83, while DR Horton gained 4.7 percent to $23.41.

McDonald’s reported a 6 percent rise in sales in August, helping its shares to add 2.3 percent to $37.96, its highest level in six years.

Semiconductors were up after a sector-wide upgrade from Credit Suisse. Broadcom was 4.2 percent higher to $27.58, while Applied Materials, which makes chip making equipment, added 4.4 percent to $17.15.

In the banking sector, Goldman Sachs was 3.3 percent higher to $156.01 even though profits fell in its third quarter. Despite the decline, profits still were higher than analysts had expected.

Positive results did not help Kroger, however. Even though the supermarket chain said that earnings were up in its second quarter, profit margins were lower than some analysts had expected, sending shares 4.2 percent lower to $23.07.

The New York equities markets were down in mid-day trade on Tuesday on a mixed but mostly lower retail sector and declines in the computer hardware sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3 percent in the middle of the day to 11,070.74, the Nasdaq composite had dropped 1 percent to 2,260.27, and the S&P 500 had declined by 0.4 percent to 1,282.25.

Federated Department Stores, which owns Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, saw a decline of 0.8 percent to $71.06 despite an gain of 59 percent in fourth quarter net profits, which was still short of the expected gain. Wal-Mart also saw fourth-quarter earnings grow less than expected, sending the retailer’s shares down 1.3 percent to $45.67. Electronics retailer Radio Shack dropped 0.3 percent after reporting a 62 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings. Home Depot bucked the trend, but only slightly, rising 0.1 percent to $41.67 on a 30 percent gain in fourth-quarter earnings, a better result than had been expected.

In the computer hardware sector, Hewlett Packard dropped 3 percent to $33.05. Apple was down 2.1 percent to $68.82. Dell dropped 1.2 percent to $30.02. These declines affected the bigger technology sector as chipmaker Texas Instruments fell 2.5 percent to $30.68, Broadcom was down 2.6 percent to $66.16, and Applied Materials declined by 2.9 percent to $19.15.

The New York equities markets were higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1 percent to 10,858.62, while Nasdaq also added 1 percent and the S&P 500 was up 0.9 percent, to 2,266.98 and 1,265.65 respectively.

Good news came in the form of possible bids in the pharmaceuticals sector and an optimistic guidance report from Cisco Systems, in the technology sector. Cisco gained 7.2 percent to $19.40 despite a report on Tuesday that second-quarter net profits fell 1.8 percent, when the company’s chief executive said that third-quarter sales would be up and reiterated the company’s 10 to 12 percent full-year revenue guidance.

Elsewhere in the technology sector, computer maker Dell gained 6.2 percent to $31.52 when Sanford Bernstein issued an upgrade from “market perform” to “outperform”. Additionally, Hewlett-Packard rose 5.4 percent to $32.01 and IMB gained 1.4 percent to $80.80. Meanwhile, semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials was up 3.1 percent to $20.10.

The pharmaceuticals sector received help from Pfizer’s announcement that it is considering selling it’s consumer products division, which manufactures products such as Listerine and Sudafed. On an estimate that the unit might be worth upwards of $10 billion, Pfizer’s shares were up 5.7 percent on the day to $26.37. Johnson & Johnson, which is seen as a potential bidder if Pfizer does decide to offer the unit for sale, gained 3.2 percent on the day to $58.60. Elsewhere in the sector, Procter & Gamble advanced 0.3 percent to $59.47.

On the other hand, General Motors received a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Deutsche Bank. This news made it the Dow’s biggest decliner of the day. GM lost 3.6 percent to $21.99.