Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.21 percent to 12,133.64, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.16 percent to 2,375 and the S&P 500 was 0.15 percent lower to 1,390.15. All three indices were headed for losses on the week, as well. Much of the heavy trade volumes had to do with the quarterly expiration of stock index and single stock futures as well as stock index and stock options.

Investment banks took losses on the week even though they have recently reported results that are better than had been anticipated. Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), hurt by its exposure to the subprime mortgage sector, looked to be ready to end the week 5.8 percent lower to $71.44 after being down by 10 percent at one point on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was 1.2 percent lower to $199.21.

Retailers were down on the week, as well. Wal-Mart (NYSE WMT) dropped 2.7 percent to $46.13 as it withdrew its application to operate a bank. Target (NYSE: TGT) fell 3.9 percent to $59.49.

US carmakers also saw declines. Ford Motor was 4.7 percent lower to $7.56, while General Motors (NYSE: GM) dropped 4.8 percent to $29.50. GM’s decline came despite fourth quarter profits and revenues, as investors worried about how a possible slowdown in the economy would affect sales.

Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) added 5 percent to $45.17 on rumors that it was looking to enter a joint venture with Reliance Industries (NSE: RELIANCE) of India.

The Chicago Board of Trade (NYSE: BOT) was up 12.8 percent to $190.50 after the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) made an unsolicited bid just as CBOT was about to complete a merger with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (NYSE: CME).

At midday in New York on Monday, Wall Street had made no progress to speak of. Midway through the session both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were steady, at 12,647.40 and 1,452.10 respectively. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3 percent lower to 2,508.19.

The chemicals sector was higher on bids rumors. Lyondell Chemical (NYSE: LYO) added 4.3 percent to $33.00 on rumors that Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW; TYO: 4850) could receive a bid from private equity. Even though there have been no confirmations of such an offer in the works, Dow gained 5.2 percent to $45.72.

The pharmaceuticals sector was also up. Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) added 0.5 percent to $54.50 after the Food and Drug Administration approved its Cymbalta antidepressant for use in treating generalized anxiety disorder. Meanwhile, Merck (NYSE: MRK) gained 4.1 percent to $44.70 after Citigroup (NYSE: C) raised its recommendation on the drug maker from “hold” to “buy” based on its hopes for Merck’s Januvia diabetes treatment.

An announcement that private equity will purchase Texas utility TXU (NYSE: TXU) for $45 billion. The deal will set a new record for a leveraged buy-out. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific Group will pay $32 billion in cash and take on $12 billion in existing debt.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Thursday on new concerns that the housing market in the United States is continuing to slow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.1 percent to 12,120.19 and the S&P 500 was 0.02 percent lower to 1,381.98. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.03 percent higher to 2,375.4.

Pulte Homes reflected the slowdown in its report of a significant drop in earnings and a warning that fourth-quarter earnings will be much lower than current estimates. Pulte’s shares were 0.7 percent lower to $31.98 in the wake of new data from the Commerce Department that shows the median price of a new home down 9.7 percent in September.

Stock exchanges were also lower on the session so far. Nasdaq dropped 0.5 percent to $36.80. Meanwhile, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which has agreed to take over the Chicago Board of Trade, dropped nearly 1 percent to $492.10. The Chicago Board of Trade itself dropped even more, by 1.6 percent to $145.08. The NYSE Group, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, fell 1.7 percent to $74.10 despite reporting third-quarter profits had tripled.

In the oil sector, ExxonMobil added 0.2 percent to $71.15 on operating profits that were at $10.5 billion in the quarter, the second highest quarterly profit ever reported by a US company.

Dow Chemical gained 0.9 percent to $40.52 on higher earnings and a share buyback scheme worth $2 billion.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart also added 0.9 percent to $51.30 on the announcement that it is expanding the $4 generic prescription price it introduced in Florida to 12 more states, bringing the total number of states now included in the program to twenty-seven.

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.

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.