Wall Street was up in early afternoon trade on Monday after declines earlier in the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17 percent to 13,545.43, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.81 percent to 2,747.17 and the the S&P 500 was 0.23 percent higher to 1,504.04.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Merck (NYSE: MRK) added $1.21 to $54.32 after it reported that profits were up by 62 percent in the third quarter, boosted by ales of asthma and allergy drugs, blood pressure medicines, cholesterol drugs and a number of vaccines, including one for the prevention of cervical cancer.

The only bad news was that the drug maker still faces liability over its Vioxx anti-inflammatory drug which was taken off the market after being implicated in cardiovascular events in patients who took it.

Elsewhere in the sector, Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) dropped $4.29 to $28.42 after turning in a quarterly report that was not up to investors’ expectations.

Meanwhile Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was 3 cents lower to $24.04.

Home builders were doing well in early afternoon trade, with several builders recording gains in the near-7 percent to nearly 8.5 percent range.

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) was up 76 cents to $9.82, while DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was 88 cents higher to $12.83 and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) had gained 89 cents to $11.44.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) added 94 cents to $14.62 and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) was up $1.39 to $21.08, while Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) jumped $1.56 to $22.08.

New York equities markets were down at midday on Friday after a report from the US Commerce Department that August retail sales were down 0.4 percent when expectations for a gain of 0.1 percent had been anticipated.

The figures excluded auto sales.

Other, separate reports, showed industrial production up only 0.2 percent in August and September consumer confidence down according to the RBC Cash Index and only slightly higher in the Reuters/University of Michigan survey.

US markets were also disturbed by Northern Rock’s (LSE: NRK) troubles in the UK.

However, declines were limited by hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates when it meets next Tuesday.

In midday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.08 percent to 13,413.99, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.14 percent to 2,597.47 and the S&P 500 had fallen 0.15 percent to 1,481.79.

Despite the general declines, house builders were higher in light trading ahead of the Fed’s decision next week.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was 38 cents higher to $27.07, while D. R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) had added 39 cents to $14.15.

Lennar (NYSE: LEN) gained 43 cents to $25.50, Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was up 51 cents to $10.54, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) added 54 cents to $20.56, and Centex (NYSE: CTX) climbed 67 cents to $26.81.

Some airlines were also higher, despite oil prices that remained high even though there had been some decline from Thursday’s gains.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) was $1.66 higher to $24.68 after it announced a stock buyback worth as much as $100 million, while Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) gained 24 cents to $32.70.

Most other US airlines also saw gains, but Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) fell 2 cents to $17.50.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade after Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed said in a speech that interest rate policies should not be used to bail out investors even though market upheavals could hurt the economy, causing investors to worry that interest rates might not drop this month, as many had assumed.

Analysts said that if the Fed does not reduce rates the markets could see a major sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.38 percent lower to 13,064.04, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.63 percent to 2,549.43 and the S&P 500 was down 0.63 percent as well, to 1,444.37.

House builders saw major declines after Moody’s Investors Services said that the housing slump will likely last at least until 2009.

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was down 5.3 percent to $10.01 after its target share price was cut from $20 to $8 by JMP Securities in the wake of last week’s reported third-quarter losses.

Other declines in the sector included KB Home (NYSE: KBH), which was 4.7 percent lower to $26.62.

Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) dropped 3.1 percent to $15.02, Lennar (NYSE: LEN) fell 2.9 percent to $25.74, and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was down 2.4 percent to $19.85.

Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) was 5.4 percent lower to $17.22 after Friday’s report that it will cut up to 12,000 jobs in an effort to rise above the sector’s problems and after it said it believes new mortgages will fall by 25 percent next year.

Gainers on the day included Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC), which added 2.7 percent to $135.20 on the news that it sold its 1 millionth iPhone Sunday.

Wall Street was lower at midday on Tuesday as investors waited for the release of the minutes from the most recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.09 percent to 13,176.87, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.27 percent to 2,528.67 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.17 percent to 1,449. 69.

Analysts and investors were interested in what the Fed minutes had to say in order to see if they provide any hints about where interest rates might go in the future, especially in light of recent comments from officials that they are willing to do whatever is necessary to retain stability in the markets.

A new report from the Conference Board, showing consumer confidence down from a revised reading of 111.9 percent in July to 105 in August did not help, although the reading was a bit better than the 104.5 that had been expected.

House builders were lower on the report that house prices were down by 3.2 percent in the second quarter, the biggest rate of decline since the S&P housing index was begun in 1987.

D. R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) dropped 45 cents to $14.76, while Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was down 60 cents to $10.66 and Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) fell 73 cents to $21.27.

Banks were lower after Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) issued a downgrade, from “buy” to “neutral”, to three financial institutions.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) dropped 94 cents to $46.85, while Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) fell $1.49 to $110.71 and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) was down $2.50 to $55.25.

By early afternoon Monday the New York equities markets were up even though many banks were lower again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.59 percent higher to 13,167.93, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.67 percent to 2,538.25 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.49 percent to 1,454.17.

Banks were lower after Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) and Wachovia (NYSE: WB) each said they had borrowed $500 million from the Federal Reserve.

Bank of America was 24 cents lower to $51.06, while Wachovia fell 31 cents to $48.93, Citigroup dropped 53 cents to $47.53 and JP Morgan Chase was down $1.06 to $45.14.

Elsewhere in the sector, Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was 41 cents lower to $175.07, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) fell 99 cents to $75.12 and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) had dropped $1.23 to $56.31.

Futures exchange operator Nymex Holdings (NYSE: NMX) added $7.10 to $125.88 on reports that it has had early discussions toward some sort of deal, while MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) gained $6.23 to $80.55 on speculation that it is a bids target from Dubai World.

In the house building sector, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) added 80 cents to $21.89 even though it said its profits in the fiscal third quarter were down on more cancellations than expected and on large writedowns but still came out better than analysts had anticipated.

The gains didn’t help the rest of the sector much, however.

At just past 1 p.m. New York time, Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was up just 1 cent to $11.96, while Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) had dropped 3 cents to $17.26 and DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was down 29 cents to $16.05.

Wall Street remained volatile on Thursday.

At just past 2 pm New York time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.02 percent to 12,730.51, but earlier in the afternoon it had been down as much as 308 points, or 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.2 percent to 2,429.39 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.68 percent to 1,397.17.

Earlier, the Nasdaq had been down as much as 2.31 percent and the S&P had been down as much as 2.7 percent.

The Federal Reserve had earlier put another $17 billion into the banking system in an effort to raise investor confidence didn’t seem to have much immediate effect.

Investor fears seemed to be confirmed when Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) was forced to draw down all of an $11.5 billion credit line in order to fund its operations after it could not borrow in traditional credit markets and after Moody’s Investor Service warned that the mortgage lender’s debt ratings could be cut to junk status.

Moody’s said it had cut Countrywide’s senior debt rating from A3 to Baa3, the lowest investment-grade rating.

Countrywide was down 23.63 percent to $16.26 in early afternoon trade.

The Commerce Department said that new home construction dropped to its lowest level in over ten years in July.

The announcement left home builders mixed.

At early afternoon, DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) was still 0.06 percent higher to $15.70, while Lennar (NYSE: LEN) had added 0.07 percent to $30.04 and Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) gained 1.57 percent to $9.08.

However, Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was down 1.38 percent to $21.48, while Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) fell 1.89 percent to $16.58, Centex (NYSE: CTX) had dropped 4.13 percent to $30.90, and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was 12.81 percent lower to $11.16.

In other economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia announced that its general economic index was at zero in August, down from 9.2 in July, which meant that while the region’s economy is not contracting it is not expanding either.

Trading was volatile on Wall Street during the session on Wednesday.

At just past midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were all slightly higher, but by just before 2 p.m. New York time the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.32 percent to 2,538.06 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.18 percent to 1,452.71.

The Dow remained slightly higher, up 0.14 percent to 13,229.95.

At one point, home builder Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) had dropped over 40 percent to $8.24 on reports that it had or would shortly file for bankruptcy.

Even though Beazer denied the rumors, it remained 16.37 percent lower to $11.65 in early afternoon trade.

The reports hurt other homebuilders as well and at one point WCI Communities (NYSE: WCI) had dropped 14 percent to $7.59 and Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV) was 16 percent lower to $11.12.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Ford Motor (NYSE: F) was 1.3 percent lower to $8.39 after it said that sales in the US dropped in July.

Even though it reported higher profits in the most recent quarter, Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) fell 0.9 percent to $32.45.

On the other hand, quarterly results that were better than expected when they were announced after trade closed on Tuesday sent Whole Foods (NAS: WFMI) 7.4 percent higher to $39.77.

In early after noon trade on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.60 percent to 12,481.57. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were also higher, with the Nasdaq gaining 0.63 percent to 2,428.80 and the S&P advancing 0.51 percent to 1,424.19. The Russell 2000 small-caps index was up 0.87 percent to 795.03. Trade volumes were low.

Ford was up 11 cents to $7.60 and US-traded shares in Toyota gained $2.03 to $133.64 on the news that top executives of the two automakers had met for talks.

Homebuilders were up on new data showing that new home sales were up more than had been anticipated in November. Hovnanian Enterprises added 44 cents to $33.68, while Toll Brothers was 66 cents higher to $32.35 and KB Home gained 79 cents to $51.58.

The retail sector was mixed on figures from the International Council of Shopping Centers that showed pre-Christmas holiday shopping was not as strong has had been hoped. Federated Department Stores was up 37 cents to $38.13, but Target only managed to hold steady at $57.09 and Wal-Mart fell 13 cents to $45.98.

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. dropped 43 cents to $42.64 after it announced that it will sell the Minneapolis Star Tribune to a private equity company in a deal worth $530 million.

The New York equities markets were up at midday on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.5 percent to 11,400.12, the Nasdaq Composite fractionally higher at 2,311.13, and the S&P 500 0.4 percent higher to 1,310.04. New corporate earnings reports helped the markets recover from losses late in the day Monday after a report that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke felt that the media had misinterpreted the testimony he gave before Congress last week.

Utilities helped the S&P, taking its Utilities Index 1.1 percent higher. Texas Utilities was up 8.2 percent to $53.99 on a reported 37 percent gain in net income in the first quarter. New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise gained 1.4 percent to $62.81.

Alternative fuels were also up on the day. Archer Daniels Midland, which makes ethanol among other activities, was up 9.1 percent to $41.47 in very heavy trading after it reported better than expected earnings in its third quarter. ADM shares have gained 13.5 percent so far this week and 65 percent since January. Another ethanol producer, Pacific Ethanol, added 6.7 percent by mid-session, to $36.27.

Homebuilders, however, were down as new figures showed pending home sales at a two-year low. Toll Brothers declined by 2.7 percent to $30.33, while Hovnavian dropped 7 percent to $36.08 on a drop in earnings.