The New York markets were lower in midday trade on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.8 percent lower to 13,980.57, while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.62 percent to 2,788.15 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.69 percent to 1,551.

Investors were worried after Citigroup (NYSE: C) after it said that earnings were down by 57 percent in the third quarter.

Citigroup fell $1.33 to $46.54.

Medical devices manufacturer Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was $7.08 lower to $49.25 on the news that it has stopped selling its Sprint Fidelis defibrillation leads after they were show to be defective.

Meanwhile, biotechnology group Biogen Idec (NAS: BIIB) added $14.40 to $83.83 after it said it might put itself up for sale after talking to potential bidders.

A little earlier in the session, Boeing (NYSE: BA; TYO: 7661) was down $1.46 to $95.24 after a broker downgrade from “outperform” to “market perform” on the possibility that the announced six-month delay in the delivery of the aerospace group’s 787 Dreamliner could stretch further.

A downgrade also sent house builders lower.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) dropped $1.31 to $27.63 after UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) dropped its recommendaton from “buy” to “neutral” and said that the housing market is not likely to recover until at least 2009.

Lennar Corp (NYSE: LEN) fell 49 cents to $23.71.

The New York markets were up in early afternoon trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.52 percent higher to 13,374.73, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.23 percent to 2,612.03 and the S&P 500 was 0.33 percent higher to 1,477.21.

Retailers were higher after Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), and Target (NYSE: TGT) all said sales were higher than had been expected.

Wal-Mart added 1 percent to $42.86, while JC Penney gained 0.64 percent to $65.99 and Target was 2.13 percent higher to $63.20.

The pharmaceuticals/biotechnology sector was up on new figures and a court ruling.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) added 2.2 percent to $50.50 after the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that allowed insurers looking for reimbursement for past spending on Vioxx to claim class-action status.

Meanwhile Biogen Idec (NAS: BIIB) was 7 percent higher to $67.26 on a long-term earnings forecast that was higher than analysts had anticipated.

The oil sector was mixed even though crude oil prices were higher. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) added 1 percent to $88.07 and ConocoPhillips was up 1.8 percent to $83.62, but Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) dropped 1.25 percent to $70.09 a day after it said it would raise capital spending in order to make improvements at several refineries in the United States and Canada.